The Once-Demon
by Blue Feather Pegasus
Summary: The other demons have turned on Bill Cipher, transforming him into one of those meat bags he detests so much. With his power gone, Bill has to learn to live as any other human, but an old enemy is getting in the way. The events of this story take place four years after season 2. In this timeline, the time baby defeated Bill Cipher. BillxDipper. Ratted T.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Gravity Falls fanfic. Note: there will be Bill-Dipper shipping in latter chapters.**

The once dream demon turned human lay motionless in the mud. The other demons had turned on him, forcing him into a human form, and carving that stupid cipher wheel he was obsessed with onto this back.

Bill had never been human before, and thus he had never been in so much pain. He had tried to fight back while they carved up his back with a knife, but that had only made them be rougher. He was pretty sure the curved bones in his chest had broken, and he had never seen human fingers bend the way the ones on his left hand were.

He turned his head slightly to keep his nose out of the mud, he had to breathe now, and every breath hurt. There was also and unpleasant rumbling in his gut that he could only guess was hunger. His all-knowing nature was quickly fading as his mind turned more human, less demon. He could feel human emotions now, and fear was filling his mind.

"If I really am human now, doesn't that mean I can die?" he worried. He needed help, that much he knew. But who would help him after all that he had done. The Mystery Shack was nearby, somewhere, if only Bill could get to it, Shooting Start just might take pity on him, if Ford or Stan didn't find him first.

He managed to get his hands under him, wincing at the intense pain of his broken fingers. Bill managed to push himself up a few inches before falling back into the mud. He was far too weak and unfamiliar with this body to get up.

The rain had stopped some time ago now, but darkness was setting in, and the monsters of Gravity Fall's forest were waking up, monsters Bill Cipher had once turned inside out for fun. With his blood in the air, they would find him, and they would seek revenge.

Cold and fear made Bill shake, his soaking wet pants didn't help matters. But then, he heard a voice in the distance. It was Shooting Star's, of that he was sure. She was calling for her pig, who must have gotten out, or been frightened out.

A grunting and rustling in the shrubs near Bill's head drained any hope the once demon had gained, until a pink noise appeared. It was Waddles. 'If that pig is here, Shooting Star will have to come this way!' the blond reasoned.

But then Bill heard another voice, one that was much closer than Shooting Star. It was Pine Tree. He was out here looking for the pig too, and he was walking straight toward the clearing where the defenseless Bill lay.

Dipper stumbled into a clearing, the evening light casting weird shadows. The first thing he saw was that blasted pig that his sister loved so much. Some tourist's dumb dog had scared the poor thing so bad it took off into the forest.

Dipper bent down and scooped the pig up. He was just about to call his sister over when he saw him. Dipper's body stiffened, instantly recognizing the shirtless teen as the evil triangle who had tried to kill him and his sister. He couldn't move, he was filled with hate and fear.

Bill tried to say something, anything, but all he managed to do was cough up some red liquid, which he was pretty sure was supposed to stay **inside** him. He could almost feel his life force draining from him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Mabel found her brother a moment later, with a squirming Waddles in his arms and a murderous look on his face. Despite her distaste for the evil triangle, Mable's nurturing nature took over. She rushed to Bills side, moving her hands over his bloody back unsure of what to do. She glanced up at her brother, who had still not moved.

"Dipper!" she whined. "Now is not the time to go all weird on me. He needs our help, or is his going to die!" That snapped the boy back to reality.

"No Mabel," he pulled his sister away with one hand, the other holding the pig under his arm like a football.

"Dipper!" she protested.

"It's probably one of his tricks. He wants us to try to help him, then he will use us," Dipper tried to reason, but even he didn't sound sure. If the triangle really wanted to use them, he wouldn't have pretended to black out, he would have tried to talk his way into getting their help. Leaving the twins to make their own decision without his input was unlike Bill.

"Bro bro," Mabel said calmly, looking into her brothers eyes. "I know he's been bad before, but right now I think he is really dying. He doesn't look like a demon anymore, I don't know how it happened but I think he really is a human now." Dipper tried to protest but she calmly shook her head.

"We have to help him. We might regret it, but we will regret it more if we just let him die."

Dipper wasn't sure the last time his sister had been the one who was calm and collected, but he knew she was right. They were going to help him. Together, they hoisted the teen up, each with one of Bill's arms wrapped around their neck. He was a bit taller than Dipper, so his bare feet dragged a little in the mud, but that was the least of their problems.

Waddles followed closely behind Mable the whole way back, sniffing at drops of blood that fell from the wounded once-demon.

The moment the odd group stumbled out of the woods, Ford saw them. His face flushed with anger at what he rightly assumed was Bill Cipher, and then concern as he noticed the blood dripping from his mouth, not having seen his back yet.

His brother Stan was less understanding. The moment he made the connection with the strange blond teen his nephew and niece were dragging with the blood thirsty yellow demon who had once invaded his mind he picked up the nearest blunt object, one of the twins' baseball bat, and charged at the unconscious teen.

But Ford held up an arm, stopping his twin in his tracks, before going up to teens and relieving the two of Bill Cipher. He quickly spotted the blood on his back, not really able to make out just what had been carved there as the symbols where now caked with blood and mud.

The twins sat down with exhaustion, taking the moment to catch their breath. Ford made a series of quick calculations in his head before turning to his brother, who still held the bat half raised.

"Get the car keys now, he needs a hospital." Stan hesitated a moment, unsure if he had really heard correctly, before turning and running into the Mystery Shack.

"And bring a towel or a blanket! We have to stop this bleeding!" Ford called out as he carried the limp form of the once-demon to the car. Dipper and Mabel had caught their breath and rushed to open the car door for their great uncle.

Stan came out a moment latter and tossed a not quite white bath towel to Ford and Dipper in the back seat before climbing in the driver's side and taking off into the night, headlights blazing.

Mabel watched from shotgun as her brother and Ford did what they could for Bill. At one point on the ride to the hospital the demon opened his one yellow one blue eyes. Ford managed to get out of him that yes, he was indeed totally human now and unable to harm them, and that some demons had done this to him, before the near dead teen slipped back into unconsciousness.

 **How did you like it? Is it any good? Let me know, thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is really short but I thought of it right after I published the first chapter and I can't think of anything else to add right now and I want to get this piece out, so here you go.**

The strange beeping near his head kept pace with the thumping inside Bill's chest. Even before he opened his eyes, he knew he was under the influence of some very powerful drugs. His mind was foggy and he had very little control over his own thoughts, which perturbed him greatly.

He tried to feel the different parts of his new body. He found that something was preventing his left hand's fingers from moving, and when he looked to see what it was, he found a mass of white bandages holding them in place. His hand was still too swollen to put in a cast.

Now that his eyes were open, he chose to look around the room. Rarely before had he ever seen the world in color, or with two eyes, but he quickly realized something was off. His drugged brain had a hard time figuring it out, until he closed one eye at a time. His right eye, (the yellow one) could see in perfect color but the left one, (the pale blue one) could only see black and white. He figured it must be a side effect of his true form only having one eye.

A door slid open and woman dressed in blue walked up to Bill holding a clip board. She glanced over it to find the mismatched eyes staring back at her.

"Oh good, you're awake," she said. She pulled out a light that she shinned in Bills eyes; he didn't like that at all. The nurse scribbled on the clip board before saying something that Bill didn't quite hear and leaving the room.

The next few hours were a blur for Bill. He saw the Pines at one point, Mabel looked more worried than the rest of them. Dipper looked down right angry while the older twins looked very unsure.

Finally, the drugs Bill was on had started to wear off and he could think clearly for once. However the pain was more intense now, but he didn't dare tell the nurses that or they would drug him again and he needed the use of his brain to talk to the Pine's family.

Ford sat in a chair to Bill's right while the other three sat or stood at the edges of the room.

"Bill Cipher," Ford said, his stern tone making Bill visibly flinch. He found that without his powers and all-knowing memory his cocky confidence had drained from him. "I want you to tell us what happened to you." And so Bill told the story of how he was sent into hiding after his world domination plan had failed. He had managed to keep away from the other demons in his home dimension for nearly two years, before they caught him.

He recalled that they debated for a long time about how to punish him for his failings, finally deciding that the best way to do so was to turn him into the very thing he despised. The carving in his back was an after-thought when one of the demons mentioned how often Bill had shoved that image in their faces and tried to indicate its importance to the point of obsession.

When he was finished the older twins looked at each other, clearly having a silent argument using subtle expressions and hand gestures. After a few moments, it seemed Ford won.

"Bill, I am willing to offer you a place to stay at our home, if you swear you will never again cause any harm to my family."

"And don't think we're doing this out of the goodness of our hearts," Stan added. "We're doing this so we can keep a close eye on you."

Bill didn't know what to think, his memories as a demon where fading fast, particularly his older ones. His murderous nature was disappearing as his mind became fully human. In the end, he easily swore to never hurt, nor put in danger, anyone in the Pines family, or any other human if he could help it. That last bit he added on his own accord, and Ford seemed to gain some comfort from it.

 **Don't be afraid to review and tell me what you think or to ask for something. I'd love chapter or plot point suggestions!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The reviews are fixed so feel free to send me one if you have any ideas for the story. And just to clarify, Mabel and Dipper are 16, going on 17. They have been visiting Gravity Falls every summer, but they go home the rest of the year. Bill is currently comparable to a 16 or 17 year old human.**

Blood, blood was everywhere. Bill was covered in it, reveling in it. He'd killed them, he'd killed them all. Every last one.

Bill woke with a scream.

"A nightmare?" he mumbled, hugging himself. For a moment, he had no idea where he was, until he remembered. He was on the Pine's couch in the living room. The clock on the wall said it was the middle of the night.

"I hope I didn't wake anyone," he whispered, but no such luck. The stairs creaked as Mable made her way down them.

"Bill? Are you okay?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Not really no." Bill found it hard to lie to her. On his left wrist was a pink cast that Mabel had covered in glitter and rainbows.

"A nightmare?" she asked. She'd stayed with him in the hospital a few times, so she knew he was waking himself up screaming most nights.

"Yeah, I don't really remember what it was though," he lied. He didn't want to tell her that he had been dreaming about murdering people, he was trying to forget that part of his life.

Mabel made a face, she knew he was holding back but didn't want to push him. Her brother and great uncles where hard enough on him; they didn't trust him in the least.

Bill pulled his knees up to his chest and Shooting Star hopped up onto the couch. It was his first night in the mystery shack, the hospital only just released him.

The pair didn't say anything for a while. Finally, Mabel yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"You should go back to bed, Pine Tree will kill me if he finds you alone with me." He wasn't kidding, Dipper had warned him of that.

"Okay, but take this," Mabel gave Bill her unicorn plushy that she had dragged from bed.

"Really?" Bill asked, he could guess it must be important to her.

"Yeah, she will help you sleep." Bill hugged the pink animal to his chest and found that he actually did feel better. "Well, good night Bill."

"Good night. Shooting Star." Mabel gave him one last smile before she headed off to bed.

It had been a few weeks now, and Bill was growing to hate being a human more and more. For one thing, his demon-ness still lingered around him. Most animals straight up hated him, dogs and cats in particular. Even that sweet little pig waddles didn't trust him, refusing to sleep in any room Bill was currently in. He also found that he healed faster than normal humans, although, not by that much. Those two things were all that was left of the once god level demon, well, those and the memories of every horrible thing he had ever done.

Sleep was something Bill was developing more and more hatred for. The plushie that Mabel had given him helped a bit, but his night mares still woke him up every few nights.

He decided that eating and drinking weren't that bad, but what came after was pain. He also found is mind was limited now. His memory was no longer infallible, and he couldn't do complex math in his head anymore, not that he had ever done it much before.

Today, Bill sat on a bench on the porch of the Mystery Shack, spitting a pit cola, his left hand incased in his pink cast still. Mabel had insisted it be pink, and honestly, Bill didn't mind the color like Dipper did. He hadn't fully grasped the concept of gender stereotypes yet. His chest still hurt when he breathed, although he was on medication to cut the pain.

He was getting used to his weird half color vision. When he had told Ford about it, he had insisted on running some tests on Bill, although for what purpose the blond didn't know. Ford seemed quite fascinated with the dream demon turned human, and although Pine Tree tried to hide it, he too was very interested in the new Bill.

The testing continued every few days. Ford would hook him up to a machine and turn it on. It didn't hurt, but it was almost as if Sixer was looking for something.

None of the male Pines trusted Bill all that much, and Dipper made a point of ensuring that he and Mabel were never left in the same room. However, any hatred or anger Bill had once held toward the Pines was almost gone. Almost.

Mabel was Bill's only comfort. She treated him with tenderness, and if she held any grudge toward him she didn't let it show like her brother did. He liked 'hanging out' with her. It was clear she liked spending time with him too. He'd let her do stuff that Dipper never would, like paint his nails or stick sparkly barrettes in his hair. His finger nails were often a shade of yellow or black, sometimes pink, as she seemed to think they fit him the best, while to be honest, he liked the color blue.

Bill glanced at his cast, where Shooting Star had drawn smiley faces and a rainbow Pegasus; not a unicorn, she still had distaste for them. She had insisted Pine Tree draw on it too, and, with a lot of grumbling, he consented to write a bunch of math equations on it.

'Really that kid needs to take his noise out of books for a little while,' Bill thought fondly. 'Woah, where had that feeling come from?' Bill wondered. Sure he had always been fascinated by Pine Tree, but he had _never_ felt that emotion toward him before. He puzzled over this for a moment. He'd never felt affection toward anyone before, not like this. He liked Shooting Star, but not in the same way he was suddenly thinking about Pine Tree.

Bill was jolted out of his thoughts when Shooting Star tapped his shoulder. Pine Tree stood next to her grumbling something under his breath.

"Bill, Dipper want's your help with something," Mabel said, a bit of mischief in her voice. She pushed her brother forward and he held out small stack of pictures that some of his camera traps had taken. They showed very blurry images of a monster. One picture had what appeared to be a snake head, the other a lion paw, and the last a goat horn. Bill knew instantly what it was, and was frankly surprised that Pine Tree didn't.

"Do you know what it is Bill? None of the journals say anything about this," Dipper said a little stiffly.

Bill knew that Ford didn't really approve of Pine Tree monster hunting. The last thing Bill wanted to do was anger that old man, but that weird emotion he had felt toward Pine Tree helped him ignore that.

"It's a chimera," Bill said, his voice still sounded weird to him. It was a couple octaves higher than it had been and no longer echoy.

"Really?" Dipper said pulling out a smart phone that had been an early 17th birthday present and looking up the Greek monster.

It had the body of a huge lion, a snake for a tail, and a goats head on his back. It was not a pretty sight, and very dangerous.

"Wow, I didn't know one of these lived in Gravity Falls," Pine Tree said, geeking out a bit. "I would've asked Great Uncle Ford about it, but he has been really busy with his research lately. He won't even tell me what he is doing," Pine Tree grumbled.

 **Ha ha ha, sorry to leave it off like that, but I am evil. The next chapter will jump right into the thick of things, now that most of the set up is out of the way. Bill Dip shipping should be set up next chapter. Keep your eyes open for it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Two chapters in one day? I am on a role. I want to thank WyldeHeart for inspiring this chapter. Enjoy.**

Dipper had chosen today to hunt down the chimera. He wanted a better picture of it, and really hopped he could get one. Bill had warned him that it was dangerous, but had followed the determined Pine Tree into the woods anyway.

Pine Tree didn't say much as the pair walked to the camera trap that had first captured images of the Greek monster. Bill had him in his left eye's peripheral vision, so his normally blue hat looked a sad gray. When Dipper caught Bill looking at him, he glared and Bill chose to look at his new black tennis shoes instead.

As the camera trap came into view, Dipper dropped his blue leather bound journal startling Bill who was still looking at his feet. Dipper rushed to the clearing where Bill could see that several motion detecting cameras had once been attached to trees. I say once because something had clawed up the trees and gnawed on the cameras.

"Crap," Pine Tree said, bending down to pick up a camera that had been bitten in half. Huge paw prints covered the clearing, overlapping so much it was hard to tell if only one chimera had been here, or more.

Bill crouched down, wincing at the pain in his chest as he did, but ignoring it. He placed his hand on one paw print, then on one next to it when he noticed something. Not all the paws were the same size. This chimera had babies, and in Bill's own experience, a mother chimera defending her young is bad news, very bad news.

"Pine Tree," Bill said warily, take a step backward out of the clearing. "We need to leave."

Dipper waved him off, gathering up his shattered cameras and snapping pics of the damage.

"Pine Tree," Bill warned through clenched teeth.

SNAP! The two froze, Dipper half bent over and Bill about to take another step backwards. A low rumbling growl rolled across the clearing like a heavy fog. Directly in front of Bill, on the far side of the clearing, a mother chimera rose from the shrubs, towering above the two boys.

Bill's eyes darted about, looking for anything he could use as a weapon. A few fallen branches and one fist sized stone were the extent of his options.

The chimera cub, about the size a Doberman, leapt out of the shrubs and growled at Dipper. Pine Tree was too scared to even lift his camera for a picture.

Slowly, so as not to startle the monsters, Bill bent down and scooped up the fist sized stone by his right shoe. He had one chance to hit the cub square on the nose before jumping forward, grabbing Pine Tree, and making a break for it.

THONK! The stone hit the cub's goat head, not what Bill had been aiming for but close enough. Dipper understood what had happened before Bill could react. He spun on his heels and ran. But not the way Bill had been planning to run. Nope. Dipper ran to his left where the trees didn't grow so close together.

"Don't go that way!" Bill tried to shout out, raising one arm as if to grab something, but a large paw landed on his chest knocking the wind right out of him as his not quite healed ribs snapped again.

Dipper heard the agonizing cry of pain Bill let loose seconds after he ran to the left, but he didn't have time to think about it. He could hear the growls and foot fall, (paw fall?) of the smaller monster chasing him.

The stones under his shoes made Dipper's feet slip around under him, but he had yet to really loose his footing. Darting back and forth between the trees didn't help at all, they were much too far apart to hinder the chimera cub.

Dipper jumped over a fallen tree, scratching the palm of his hand in the process. It stung but he paid it no mind. A dull thud meant the monster had made it over as well. He risked a glance over his shoulder, but that only slowed him down and proved that the monster was closer behind him then he had thought.

In that moment, Dipper's foot hit a stump and he fell. His head smashed against a rock and the world turned to a blur of color and a ringing sound.

After the ringing dulled and his vision returned, Dipper propped himself up, and the scene he saw terrified him. Blue fire danced before his eyes. The chimera cub unleashed unholy sounds as he burned. Then he saw Bill.

Both Bill's hands where alight with blue fire, his blue eye had turned solid black, and his yellow one had turned red. The hair along the sides of his head was black, while the longer part on the top of his head remained bright yellow.

"Bill?" Dipper nearly whispered, fear clear in his voice and face. The chimera had finally stopped howling; its existence had ended.

Bill's eyes gleamed with murder. As he stood over Dipper, a hand raised ready for the kill…

Bill stumbled, clutching at his heart. His eyes returned to normal, his hand's ceased to burn. He collapsed to his knees. Hands pressed to the dirt he proceeded to cough up blood.

"You're hurt," Bill mumbled between coughing fits.

"What?" Dipper said, not understanding. He tried to stand, but his right leg wouldn't take the weight and he crumpled back to the ground. When he looked, he found that his ankle was a bloody mess. When he fell, that chimera must have bitten him.

The pain flooded to him all at once, and he screamed bloody murder. Bill was on him in an instant despite his own injuries. He took off his white cotton shirt and ripped several strips. One he tied above the wound as tight as he could to prevent the blood from flowing out. The rest he wrapped around Pine Tree's ankle to soak up the blood.

Dipper's pain was a little less unbearable now, and he clung tightly to Bill, forgetting for the moment his hatred for the triangle. Bill lifted him unsteadily to his one good foot. Leaning heavily on Bill for support, the pair headed back to the shack.

Bill didn't know what exactly had happened when the chimera had attacked. But he did know one thing, his power wasn't gone. Somehow, in his pain and fear for both his life and Pine Tree's, he had unlocked it, and it had been one of the more terrifying experiences of his life. For a few minutes, he was his old self again. Murderous, evil, intent on destroying the monster pinning him to the ground in the most painful, horrible way he could. And he did. I will spare you the details as they are more gruesome than even I would put down on paper.

Once the mother was killed, Bill Cipher went after the baby, not by and desire to save Pine Tree, but for the sheer pleasure of killing something else. It was just by chance that Dipper was saved. However, for a moment, Bill Cipher was fully ready to kill him too. What had brought Bill back was the fear he saw in Pine Tree's eyes, not fear of the now dead monster, but fear of Bill himself. That strange emotion that Bill felt for Pine Tree had drawn him back from his old self, his old power. A power that had **not** been properly destroyed.

 **Any suggestions, ideas, just liked the chapter, please leave a review! Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but considering the frequency I have been uploading chapters, I think that makes up for it.**

By the time the pair trudged through the woods and onto the porch of the Mystery Shack, Bill was practically carrying Dipper. Bill had some lingering effects of his daily painkiller, plus a rush of adrenalin, so despite his shattered ribs and internal bleeding, he was the stronger of the two.

Soos opened the door when Bill knocked. His eyes went wide as he processed what he was seeing. Blood dribbled out of Bill's mouth. Dipper clung to his neck for support. The once pink cast was now stained black and red from soot and blood. The hair that had turned black hadn't returned to its normal yellow, and of course Bill was still missing a shirt.

Bill sat next to Pine Tree in the back seat as Ford drove the two to the hospital. Mabel was at Candy or Grenada's house, Bill couldn't remember which one, and Stan had gone to the store for soda and ham.

Bill was far too exhausted and in pain to tell Ford what happened, so Dipper did his best.

"… and that is when Bill, what exactly happened Bill?" Dipper asked turning to the blond next to him.

Bill shook his head, wiping his mouth with a clenched fist. He looked down at the blood on his hand. He used to find that thick red liquid thrilling, now it just made him feel sick.

"My powers came back," Bill croaked. Ford seemed unfazed by this, which surprised both Bill and Dipper.

"I suspected that something like this would happen eventually, but I wasn't expecting it this soon," Ford admitted, looking straight ahead the whole while.

"You knew this would happen great uncle Ford?" Pine Tree said, looking intently at Sixer who refused to meet his gaze.

"You can't simply turn a demon human Dipper," Ford explained. Bill leaned his head against the cool window. "You can lock a demons power away for a while, but eventually that seal will weaken, and the demon's true nature will return." Ford looked at Bill in his rear-view mirror, wondering how the once-demon will take this news.

Bill didn't say anything. He stared out the window with a distant expression. He tried to let no outward expression of his true emotions show. He wanted to seem unfazed by this, calm and collected, but internally he was freaking out.

'How do I stop that from happen?' he wondered to himself. 'I don't want to go back to the way I was. Pine Tree would never accept me if that happened. I would try to kill him anyway. I can't let that happen,' Bill decided.

By the time they pulled up to the hospital, Bill had become unresponsive. Now that the danger was over, and Bill's adrenal gone, his pain began to consume his mind. Some nurses loaded him onto a stretcher, and took him straight to the operating room. His internal bleeding had to be stopped as soon as possible.

Dipper was taken to a different room, where he was given morphine and had is bite looked at. The good news was no bones were broken. But he was still going to need a lot of stitches and would be forbidden from walking for two whole weeks.

He had a long time to think while he waited to see if Bill would be okay, and he had a lot to think about.

 **The only time you will get to hear a character's thoughts directly is when they are Bill's thoughts. This is partly because this is Bill's story, but also because I don't want the true Gravity Falls characters to seem too, out of character. Anyway, let me know hat you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ugh, I am so sorry for the short chapters, but it took longer than I thought to set up this story. From now on no more short chapters, I promise.**

The drugged sleep Bill found himself in was even worse than his normal sleep. It wasn't like dreaming, or what Bill had come to know as dreaming. He was more aware than in normal sleep.

His surroundings reminded him of that empty dimension he had found once. Inky blackness in all directions, and yet, there had to be a light coming from somewhere because he could see himself fine. There were no noises either, just his own breathing and heart beat, things the once-demon was still not used to.

Then, an echoy laughter radiated from the darkness. Bill recognized it at once.

"Crypto," Bill growled as the red pentagon materialized out of nowhere.

"Hello Cipher," the dream demon said, his voice like a nails on a chalk board.

"What are **you** doing here," Bill demanded, turning his back and crossing his arms. The pentagon simply floated around to face Bill again.

"What? Is there something wrong with checking up on one's old apprentice?" the demon practically oozed amusement, despite lacking anything like a mouth that would express it. He also had two eyes, both blood red. When Bill didn't respond, his old master tried another approach.

"So did you like that chimera? She seemed like a fine specimen," the red demon drawled, feigning interest.

Bill's anger flared, his hands ignited in blue fire.

"You set that monster on us!" Bill yelled, his voice returning to its more demonic form.

"Now, I never said that." Crypto drifted in circles around the enraged once-demon forcing Bill to turn in place to keep him in his fiery glare.

"I almost died!" Bill roared, not giving into Crypto's hypnotic suggestion. He'd trained under that demon for centuries; he knew all his tricks.

"You've come far closer to that before," Crypto glanced at Bill's expression, wanting to see him process that statement.

"YOU!" Bill Cipher roared, his eyes changing to black and red. "YOU SHOWED THOSE BASTARDS WHERE I WAS HIDDING!" The blue fire in his hands flared up until his whole body was engulfed in demonic fire. Despite his anger, he knew better than to attack Crypto; he was far older and much more power hungry than Bill would ever be.

"Now why would I, your trusted friend and ally, do such an awful thing?" The red demon didn't really sound hurt, but he was putting on a show.

"You stay away from me Crypto! BECAUSE OF YOUR CHIMERA I ALMOST KILL…" Bill's fire faded, realizing he almost gave a leverage point to this malicious monster.

"Your dirty tricks got me into this mess, and I don't need your help to get out of it!" he tried to change the subject, but his fire was quenched, quite literally. His eyes returned to normal. Lucky for Bill, Crypto didn't know anything about the human emotions so he didn't recognize the one that had caught Bill in the chest. Rather, he mistook his deflation for something else.

"You don't even have the strength to regain your power in the mindscape, your home realm?" Crypto laughed, a truly awful sound.

"Yes, I did have that chimera brought to Gravity Falls. I hoped that killing it might return your powers to you, give you new purpose, those idiots didn't seal them up very well. But now I see you have no right to them. You are weak in mind and body Cipher. I will ensure you don't become a dream demon EVER AGAIN!"

Crypto left in a flash of blinding light. Bill was exhausted, worn out. He sat down in the empty world Crypto had no doubt made and neglected to remove. He had almost told that psycho about Pine Tree. If he knew about him, he would force Bill's powers back into him for sure, and that is the last thing the once-demon wanted.

Time flows differently in the mindscape, so while Bill was really only unconscious for a few hours, it felt much longer. He was left alone with his thoughts for longer than he wished, but he had much to think about now.

 **What did you think? Did you like Crypto? I need a first name for him though. Send your suggestions my way and one of them will be his first name next time he appears.**


	7. Chapter 7

Mabel burst into Dipper's hospital room, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Dipper!" she cried wrapping him in a too tight hug.

"Mabel," Dipper choked, "Can't breathe." She held on for a second more before pulling away and taking her brothers face in her hands. Her eyes where puffy and red indicating that she'd been crying.

"Are you okay?" she asked pressing her forehead to his.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry Mabel," he said calmly. She hugged him again, this time not nearly as tight.

"I'm glad. I'm glad you didn't die, dummy," she said, gently punching his shoulder in an attempt to regain her composure.

"Where's Bill?" she asked after a few moments. Dipper's expression darkened and Mabel instantly knew something was wrong.

"He's in another room," Dipper said, crossing his arms and looking down.

"What happened?" Mabel asked gently. She sat herself on the edge of Dippers bed.

"He needed surgery as soon as we got here. They said it was a success and took him off the anesthesia but he won't wake up." Dipper's eyes were dark. His sister could tell he was very worried.

"He'll be okay Dipper," Mabel comforted, placing her hand on Dipper's shoulder. "Bill's tough. He'll come back to us."

Dipper shrugged and turned his back on his sister. He pulled the blanket up to his chin. Mabel knew that meant he didn't want to talk about it anymore. In a few minutes, his breathing slowed. He'd fallen asleep.

"How is he?" Stan poked his head in the room and Mabel shushed him. He tiptoed over to the bed and sat down in a chair across from Mabel.

"He's okay, but he's worried about Bill," Mabel said quietly.

"Poor kids. They had one hell of a day," Stan said sadly, but there was a hint of something else in is voice, as though he was holding something back.

"Where is great uncle Ford?" Mabel asked.

"He's ah… He's got something to check into. Come on Mabel, sweet heart, let's go get something to eat."

"Okay grunkle Stan." Mabel let herself be lead away.

* * *

Later that day, at Ford's request, the hospital moved Bill into the same room as Dipper. There was always someone in Dipper's room, and this way, there would always be a pair of capable eyes on Bill, if something were to go wrong.

Stan had offered to stay in the hospital with the boys that night. He was currently asleep in a chair against the wall. Dipper however couldn't sleep; the beeping of his heart monitor clashed with Bill's much slower beeping. It seemed far too slow to Dipper.

Annoyed and worried, he slipped out of bed, leaning heavily on his crutch to keep his foot off the ground.

Bill didn't look particularly bad. A white blanket covered his lower half. Dipper hadn't noticed at the time of the attack, but Bill's hands up to his elbows where horribly burnt. His left hand had been spared though; the cast had protected it. Now white bandages covered his arms.

A tear dripped from Dipper's eye as he placed his hand on Bill's arm just above the bandages. His body stiffened and he collapsed with a dull thud.

Stan woke in time to see Dipper fall.

"Dipper!" he nearly shouted, rushing to his nephew's side. He cradled the unconscious boy's head as he yelled for a nurse.

* * *

Dipper found himself in a dark empty place. There was no telling where the floor ended and the sky began. He blinked, not sure what had happened. After waving his hand in front of his face and finding that he could see it, the baffled teen turned in place.

Directly behind him, he saw a figure, curled up, their back to Dipper. The scars proved that it was Bill. Dipper slowly approached the once-demon who was curled in the fetal passion. He knelt down and placed a hand on Bill's shoulder.

Bill woke with a start and scrambled away from the touch. He sat back and faced his attacker, at least that seemed to be what he was doing judging from the crazed look in his eyes. It took him a moment to realize it was Dipper.

"Pine Tree?" Bill said, amazed and unsure at the same time.

"Yeah," Dipper said, also not sure what was going on.

Bill crawled on hands and knees to Dipper before catching him by surprise and wrapping him in hug.

"Uh, Bill?" Dipper said, not sure he really wanted to hug the blond back.

"Sorry," Bill said pulling away. He sat cross-legged facing Pine Tree. "I've just… been alone for so long."

"You haven't even been unconscious for 24 hours yet," Dipper said confused. Bill looked down, and for the first time Dipper realized he'd been crying.

"We're in the mindscape. Time flows differently here," Bill explained.

"How long have you been stuck here?" Pine Tree asked, a tenderness in his voice that Bill had not heard from him before.

"Not sure, but it felt like weeks," the once-demon fiddled with the hem of his pants. Dipper didn't know what to say to that, but now he understood Bill's reaction to seeing him.

"How do we get out?" Dipper asked.

"I'm not sure we do," Bill said, still not making eye contact with the brunette across from him. "How'd you even get in here?" Bill asked after a moment.

"I just touched you, and then, here I was," Dipper shrugged. Following Bill's example, he fiddled with his pant leg.

"That might be it!" Bill said loudly after a particularly long moment of silence.

"What?" Dipper asked, hope flickering across his face.

"This place was built to contain me, but not you. If we can find a way to wake you up, you can drag me out of here!" Bill was very excited, so much so that it was contagious and Dipper didn't pay attention to the first part of what Bill had said.

"How do we do that?" Dipper asked. Bill held out his hand. Dipper hesitated for a moment before taking it.

"Whatever you do, don't let go," Bill said squeezing Pine Tree's hand.

"Got it," Dipper said, squeezing back.

"This might hurt a bit," Bill warned holding his other hand up. Dipper understood what he was going to do. Bill slapped Pine Tree across the face delivering the shock his body needed to wake up.

Even after the world evaporated, even after Dipper's senses got overwhelmed with sights and sounds, Dipper never lost his grip on Bill's hand.

Bill gasped and sat up blinded by the manmade light of his surroundings. To his left, Pine Tree also sat up gasping.

Shooting Star hug tackled her brother. Bill smiled, enjoying the happiness she was radiating.

Ford looked at Bill with a calculated expression. When Bill met his gaze, the two seemed to come to some sort of agreement.

* * *

In another dimension, looking into a crystal mirror, Crypto watched with anger. Bill had managed to escape from his painstakingly built prison, and it was all that human meat bag's fault.

"That meat bag, he seems to have a bond with Cipher. He might just come in handy."

 **There, let the shipping begin! However, I still need a first name for Crypto, his appearance this chapter was unplanned. Review and send my your name ideas!**


	8. Chapter 8

Ford had a decision to make. He scribbled in a plain black moleskin notebook he kept in his coat pocket. He knew he had to place a brand or symbol on Bill to keep his powers out of his physical form, not just for those around him, but also for Bill's own safety. Even though his power only had hold of him for a few minutes, it had caused plenty of damaged, from severe burns to internal bleeding. At this point, he had decided that it should be some form of pentagram, but whether he wanted to us a plain pentagram or one of its many forms he was unsure.

Part of the problem, was that when dealing with interdimensional beings, there is no such thing as a trump card. Something that works on one demon might not work on another, or even work more than once on the same demon.

The other problem, was what Ford was trying to protect Bill from. The demonic power he needed guarding against was once his own. Were Bill and his power two halves of a whole? Even if Bill chose to remain human, would he really be fully human? Had his power become its own being? Was there really anything Ford could do to keep it out?

All these thoughts were running through Ford's head as he sketched protection symbols in his notebook.

When he saw Bill wake up later that day, something passed between them, and Ford knew that Bill really did want to remain human. A weight lifted off his chest. Up until that point, he had worried he have to trick Bill into a position where he could safely tattoo a symbol onto him. Now, that would not be necessary. Also, if anyone knew what symbol would work best to keep Bill Cipher's power out, it was Bill.

Dipper was released from the hospital the next day, but Bill had to stay longer under observation. Ford found that he was having a hard time getting Bill alone long enough to talk to him about protective symbols.

Dipper's attitude toward the once-demon had done a one-eighty. He stayed by Bill as often as he could, bringing his laptop along or some book, and when Bill was awake he'd read to him, or just talk about monsters, a passion the two teens shared. When Bill was asleep, which was more often than not, sleep was good for healing after all, Dipper would sit quietly and read, or sketch, a hobby he had taken up after he started making a monster compendium.

Finally, Mabel dragged her brother away to go to the pool with her and her friends one day, and Ford had a chance to talk to Bill alone.

"… a symbol to keep me out?" Bill asked, unsure he had heard correctly.

"Yes, to keep your powers out, do you know of one?" Ford asked urgently. Bill thought for a while. There had been times in the past where he was summoned by many number of ways, but a symbol too keep him away, to ward him off?

"I don't know," Bill said. "The ones that have been tried on me never worked, and my older memories are fading fast."

"That's okay, I'm sure I can think of something," Ford said, turning to leave.

* * *

Even after the others had gone to bed, Dipper sat on the couch in the Mystery Shack watching TV, a pit cola in one hand. His right arm was wrapped around Bill, who was passed out on his shoulder. The hospital had finally released him.

Bill was wearing a white V-neck shirt that exposed his collar bone where a simple black pentagram had been tattooed earlier that day. His antibiotics and pain killers made him very sleepy, and in the few day's he'd been home Bill had been falling asleep on Dipper a lot. He mentioned at one point he didn't have nightmares when Dipper was around, so Dipper had been, "falling asleep," in the living room every night.

Mabel thought their budding relationship was just too cute, often snapping picture of Bill passed out on Dipper's shoulder or chest. If Ford and Stan had anything to say about it, they kept it to themselves.

Stan felt confident that the tattoo will keep Bill's demon half out, but Ford wasn't so sure.

Dipper soon got bored of the TV, and pulled out his sketch book. He flipped it open to a page that he hadn't shown anybody. It as an unfinished drawing of Bill, as he is now, sitting and staring up at the stars. He had discovered them last night, and found them fascinating. He'd said he never paid them much mind before, but now they looked beautiful.

* * *

(Dipper's flash back)

"What're you doing Pine Tree?" Bill asked walking up to Dipper who was lounging on a blanket a few feet from the shack.

"I'm just looking at the stars," he said pointing up. Bill followed Dipper's hand to the huge sparkly dome above him.

"Woah," Bill said in quiet awe. Dipper sat up and patted the ground next to him. Bill sat, with his legs crossed and hand behind him so his back was at an angle. Dipper smiled as he watched Bill.

"See that group of stars over there," Dipper said pointing. "That's the constellation Pegasus, one of Mabel's favorites. That one over there is Aquarius."

"Which one is your favorite?" Bill asked sliding down onto his back.

"Orion, but you can't see him in summer," Dipper said, laying as well.

"Too bad," Bill yawned. Dipper waited for Bill to ask more questions like he always did, but when he looked over, he was asleep.

Dipper was jolted out of his memory by Waddles who made a ruckus as he passed through the living room by tripping over the rug and squealing at said rug as though he was scolding it. Dipper decided that he was getting stiff and thus, carefully so as not to wake Bill, he slipped his legs passed the once-demon until he was laying down with Bill on top of him, his head resting on Dipper's shoulder.

He hadn't really cuddled with anyone since he was a little kid, but it was rather comforting. Bill wasn't really that heavy, he barely ate anything, and was only a little taller than Dipper. It was nice to feel his slow sleepy breathing and calming heart beat pressed up against his chest.

Dipper glanced around to make sure he was alone before kissing the top of Bill's head.

"Night Bill," he whispered before falling asleep.

 **This chapter was harder to write than the others, mostly because I have been reading, The Perk of Being a Wallflower and that's books writing style is so vastly different from my own I had a hard time getting back into my head-space. Anyway, I hoped you liked it and send my a review if you have any story or chapter ideas!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Just a cute little fluff chapter. Enjoy.**

"Grrrrrrr," Bill mumbled while fixated on claw machine. He'd been at it for a while going for different prizes after he saw Dipper get a pink push pony that he gave to Mabel. Dipper was having a hard time containing his laugher as he handed Bill quarter after quarter. Every time a prize slipped out Bill made a noise like a startled dog. When he was concentrating, his tongue stuck out between his lips.

"Come on Bill, why don't we try again some other day," Dipper suggested, not really meaning it but rather just wanting to see Bill's reaction.

Bill shook his head without taking his eyes off the little spotted cow he was trying to grab. The claw lifted the plush a few inches, and then the cow fell out. Bill started banging his head on the glass mumbling something and Dipper was forced to drag him away lest they cause a scene in the crowded mall.

After Dipper bought him a chocolate milk shake Bill calmed down a bit. They were sitting at a table in the food court drinking their milk shakes and eating fries when it happened. Bill got his first brain freeze.

Dipper had just told him to slow down, when Bill's eyes went wide. He let go of the straw and put both hands on his forehead.

"Dipper, it hurts," he whined. Dipper laughed.

"It's called a brain freeze. Here do this," Dipper placed his thumb on the roof of his mouth in demonstration. Bill copied him and relief flooded his face.

"That's better," Bill said, taking attentive sip of his milk shake before eating some fries. "What is a brain freeze?" Bill asked, a moment later, his mouth full of fries.

"You can get one when you eat something cold too fast. It has to do with when the blood in the roof of your mouth gets cold and the rushes to your brain," Dipper started to explain, but Bill wasn't listening anymore. He was watching a group of teens at a nearby table who were looking at him and snickering. It might have been the fact that the two boys looked like they were on a date, or the fact that Bill's nails where pink, or that he was wearing one of Mable's sweaters, a purple one with a kitten on it. Dipper followed his gaze and sighed.

"Just ignore them Bill."

"Okay." Bill went back to his milkshake, careful not to drink it as fast this time.

A while latter the two teens found themselves in the video game store. Bill had tried playing some of Dippers games on his 3Ds but was finding them too hard, so Dipper wanted to find something a little easier. He was considering a Pokémon game; he didn't personally enjoy them but he figured Bill might considering none of the 'pocket monsters' were actually real monsters. Bill liked talking about monsters, but sometimes they bothered him. He wouldn't ever tell Dipper the whole reason why, but he figured it was because of some bad memories.

Bill came up behind Pine Tree and placed his chin on his shoulder to get a look at what was in his hands. They were two different games, one called Pokémon Y, the other, Omega Ruby.

"Which one looks better?" Pine Tree asked Bill, moving his hands up and down as though weighing the games.

"That one," Bill pointed at one still on the shelf, Alpha Sapphire. It was blue, and he really liked blue. He had no bad memories of the color blue.

Dipper set down the two he was holding and picked up the one Bill had pointed at. He turned it over in his hands and read the back cover.

"Okay," Dipper confirmed. "We'll get this one." The two got in line, which Bill thought was boring, so he proceed to see how much he could bug Pine Tree before he complained.

He poked at Dipper's ribs, and head butted him between his shoulder blades, but it wasn't until he licked Pine Tree's ear that he squirmed away with a giggled, "stop that." Bill put on his best innocent look.

"Stop what?" he asked.

"You know what," Dipper said putting the taller boy in a head lock and gently rubbing his fist in his hair. It became Dipper's turn in line so he let the blond go and paid for the game.

Bill held the bag as they walked out of the store. Dipper looked at his watch.

"We still have a few minutes until Mabel and her friends get out of the spa," Pine Tree looked around the mall. "What do you want to do?"

Bill paused for a second before pointed back toward the claw machines. Dipper chuckled before leading the way, not even complaining as Bill's hand slipped into his.

 **See, I'm not always mean to my characters. You have to build up their hopes before you smash them, you know? :P**


	10. Chapter 10

**This is just a cute little fluff chapter at Astroblaze's request. And yes I play a lot of Pokemon okay?**

Bill sat on Dipper's bed clutching the blue seahorse plush to his chest. He hadn't let go of the thing since he won it at the claw machine. Dipper didn't even care that they could have bought some of the same quality, if not better, for what they spent on the claw. Bill's happy expression was well worth it.

Dipper sat down on the bed next to Bill, grabbed him from behind and pulled him onto his side, spooning him. They had given up pretending to fall asleep together and just slept in Dippers bed. No one said a word about it.

At the moment though, it wasn't even 4:00 pm. They were just snuggling because they could. After a little while, Bill started to squirm. His blood was still full of sugar from the mall, and now that he wasn't taking antibiotics and his pain killer had been dosed down, he was a bundle of energy most of the day.

"Can I play that game now," he whined.

"Sure," Dipper said, giving Bill's middle one last squeeze before letting go.

Dipper got up and found his 3Ds sitting in the attic's windowsill. He flipped it open, grabbed the game which had been placed on the side table, and popped it in.

Dipper sat back on the bed, and pulled Bill to him so his back was pressed against Dippers chest, his legs on either side of the blond. Dipper handed the game system to Bill and wrapped his arms around his middle, placing his chin on the once-demon's shoulder so he could watch.

Bill didn't say a lot as the game's intro cut-scene played. He named his character Pine Tree, which Dipper thought was cute. But once he got to the point where Professor Birch was being chased by poochyena and he had to pick his first Pokémon, he got stumped.

"Which one do I pick?" he asked glancing at Dipper.

"Whichever one you want," he said. It'd been a long time since he had played a Pokémon game, so while he knew the basic mechanics, he'd have to relearn most of it.

Bill flipped back and forth between the three options before finally settling on mudkip, the water Pokémon which he nicknamed Bubbles, the most classic water starter name. He'd been having a good streak with blue, why mess with it now? The first battle was a basic back and forth and Dipper knew enough to guide him through. After that though, new game specific mechanics where introduce, like the poke radar that they figured out together. While it was technically Bill's game, they played it together. Dipper giving advice and Bill going through the motions.

Once they had reached the first gym in Rustoboro City, Bill had caught a Poochyena and named it Rex despite it being female. They lost to the leader on the first try, mostly because Bill refused to use Bubbles despite him having an advantage, but they beat her after grinding for a while.

By that time, Mabel came up an announced it was dinner time. The two saved the game and made their way down stairs where the smell of spaghetti and meat balls wafted. The five of them gathered around the table, Ford still writing on a much erased piece of paper that his twin eventually took from so he would eat something.

Bill didn't really like the broccoli that came with dinner, but he ate anyway to please Dipper. Once the meal had been washed up, the family gathered in the living room to watch a movie, all but Ford of course, he disappeared back into the basement as soon as his brother was satisfied that he had eaten enough and gave him his paper back.

It was Mabel's turn to pick a movie and she chose The Lion King. Needless to say, Bill cried when Mufasa died. He didn't even fall asleep toward the end which must have meant he liked it a lot.

After the movie was over though, Bill could hardly contain his yawning.

"Come on sleepy," Dipper coaxed. "Time for bed." He lead the half-awake Bill up the stairs, guided him into pajamas, which consisted of gray sweat pants and a simple cotton t-shirt. When they were ready, Bill latched onto Dipper and literally dragged him to bed; despite his relatively scrawny built he was pretty strong. He was out before his head hit the pillow.

Dipper wiggled around in Bill's grasp until he was being spooned by the blond. He found the edge of the blanket and pulled it over them.

Mabel came up a while latter and made her way to bed with whispered good-nights to her brother.

Lulled by the sleeping breathing of the other two beings in the room, Dipper drifted off to sleep.

 **Where has Crypto been all this time? I don't think he has forgotten about Dipper. Well get ready for some pain because in the next chapter they get thrown right into the fire.**


	11. Chapter 11

**This isn't the chapter I had planned to post next, and I know I promised blood, but someone asked for this and it was the perfect transition between the last chapter, and the next one.**

Bill tossed and turned, his mind in turmoil. Dipper had yet to wake up, but that wasn't gona last long.

Ben Crypto towered over Bill in his nightmare.

"Well, well, well," he said; his voice grated on Bill's ears. "Looks like someone has found a friend in a human meat bag." The demons behind Ben, ones Bill used to call friends, the ones who had turned him human, laughed like it was the most hilarious thing in the world.

"You better not hurt him!" Bill yelled, trying to be brave, but despite his experience with the ancient being, he couldn't help but tremble under the angry piercing stare the older dream demon was giving him.

He might have been braver last time, but Ben wasn't really angry then.

"Hurt him?" Ben mused as if considering it for the first time. "Maybe latter, but for now," Ben Crypto snapped is fingers, and the line of blood thirsty demons advanced.

"They didn't get their chance to cause enough pain when your weirdmageddon plan backfired with the appearance of the time baby," Ben explained. "I showed them your hiding place, but they were over eager to employ **my** plan and turned you human before they could really get their revenge."

Bill frantically looked for a way out. He thought of everything he knew about Ben Crypto. He had been around for longer than Bill, in fact, he had created Bill to have someone to 'do his dirty work.' That was the reason he always gave Bill anyway; that self-absorbed pentagram would never admit he was lonely being the only dream demon this side of the multiverse.

Ben Crypto had been called many things through out human history, including Aedus, meaning fire, and Mortem, meaning death. Ben was just his current title, he changes them depending on his personal preference.

"Ben, stop this now!" Bill demanded, holding back the tremble in his voice.

"Oh Cipher, I would love to," Ben lied through his teeth, if he had any that is. "But I'm doing this for your own good." Bill changed tactics.

"Come on 8-Ball, Xanthar, Teeth, Keyhole, Anamorphous Shape, Pyronica, Pacifier, we were friends once before, what's stopping us now?" he nearly begged.

"Sorry Cipher," Teeth said. "But you're not our leader anymore."

"Yeah, we've got Crypto to lead us now," 8-Ball agreed. One by one the other demons agreed with this line of thinking.

"Good boys," Ben said, clapping his hands once. "Now get him," he said with utter calm in his voice pointing a finger at the condemned Bill.

* * *

"Bill! Bill wake up!" Dipper frantically shook the thrashing blond. His arms where flailing wildly, and he was crying out in pain despite still being asleep.

Mabel was scared, holding her pillow to her ears to block out his cries. Dipper could hear the stairs creaking as Ford and Stan rushed to see what was wrong.

Dipper tried to pin Bill's arms to his side, but only managed to get back handed in the eye. He knew Bill didn't mean it, but it still stung.

"What's going on?!" Ford yelled.

"Bill won't wake up!" Dipper said, one eye starting to blacken while both started to water.

"Stan, help Dipper hold him down!" Ford ordered. Without questioning his twin, Stan did as he was told. Together, the two managed to get Bill to stop thrashing. Ford pulled out a small flashlight. He opened Bill's eyes and shined the light in them.

"I think he is being forced to stay asleep by another dream demon," Ford said sadly.

"There are more of them!?" Dipper asked, not wanting to believe it.

"I've never encountered them, but I have heard they might exist," Ford explained. "I'm gona try to wake him up. Don't let go of him!"

Ford grabbed both sides of Bill's head and located his temples. (Don't try this at home.) With a firm, sharp strike, he hit the center of both with his thumbs.

Bill's eyes flew open, his whole body shaking in pain. Ford and Stan sunk to the floor in relief.

Dipper looked into his friend's eyes where all he could see was fear; fear of what, he didn't know. Slowly, recognition fill his face and he latched onto Dipper's neck, holding tightly and sobbing into his shoulder.

Dipper hugged him to his chest, whispering calming nothings. Stan, Ford, and Mabel left the two alone.

"They tried to kill me, they want to kill you," Bill blathered. Dipper had no idea what he was talking about. He just held him and slowly rubbed his back in what he hopped was a comforting way.

"They attacked me. Ben is gona try to hurt you," Bill mumbled.

"It's okay, nothing is going to happen to me," Dipper really hopped that wasn't a lie.

It was a long time before the once-demon calmed down enough to explain. But by then, Dipper insisted he didn't want to hear it until morning. So, holding the blond to his chest. The two lay back down and slept uneasily until dawn.

 **Do you like how I cheated an used every suggestion for Crypto's first name? I couldn't pick one, but when I wrote Crypto I was imagining a more modern name like Bill's, so that is why Ben won out as his current name. Leave a review and tell me if you liked it or if you have a chapter you want to see.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Well, here it is. This chapter was harder to write then I thought it would be.**

That night a few days ago had been almost completely forgotten. Bill hadn't really wanted to talk about it and Dipper didn't push him. It was in the past and there was more exciting things to focus on.

Finally, Bill was declared fully healed by the hospital. His cast came off, his x-ray showed that his ribs were fine. He was all set, and just in time for the school year. Yeah, the summer came to an end faster than expected. And they found Bill half way through it so that explains where some of the time went.

Dipper was sitting with Bill out-side the Mystery Shack on a log. He had just gotten off the phone with his parents to ask if he could stay in Gravity Falls for the school year. After a very long discussion, they agreed. For a celebration, the two boys where eating icey pops. Mabel had disappeared into the shack to call her friends and let them know the good news. A real celebration would be in three days when the twins celebrated their birthday.

"Speaking of birthdays, when is yours?" Dipper asked pointing his half eaten icey pop at Bill.

"Umm, I don't really know," Bill said, looking at his shoes. 'But I know someone who does, not that I would ask him,' Bill thought to himself.

"Well, it doesn't really matter I guess," Dipper said, finishing his frozen treat and standing up. "Come on buddy," he held out his hand and pulled Bill to his feet.

Bill took Dippers hand and stood up. He was feeling great! The weather was nice, his body didn't hurt anymore, and he was with Dipper, so the day couldn't get any better. Of course it could get worse.

A blunt object hit the back of Bill's head, and he was out cold. Dipper saw him fall face first into the dirt, but before he could react, someone grabbed him from behind and firmly pressed a soaking wet cloth to his face. He recognized the smell instantly from an incident in Ford's lab a year ago. Chloroform!

He struggled against the firm hands hold him, trying desperately not to breath in the fumes. But after a minute or so of struggling, he'd inhaled too much and passed out.

When Dipper came to, he found he couldn't move. His hands were tied tightly behind his back and his legs bound together from the ankles to his knees. His mouth had been thoroughly duct taped.

The floor he was laying on felt like wood, and it was dark, too dark to make anything out yet. He could hear what sounded like the settling of an old house, and with the lack of a breeze concluded that he must be in an abandoned building of some kind.

Dipper's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he recognized the place; he'd almost been killed here once before. It was Gideon's warehouse, long abandoned after the "child psychic" was sent to jail two years ago. It was in a horrid state of disrepair. All the windows where boarded up. Molding cardboard lay around in heaps against the walls.

The sounds of chains clinked and Dipper stiffened. Someone was here with him, behind him. With a struggle, Dipper rolled over, what he saw made his heart hurt.

Bill was hanging by his wrists from the ceiling bound by heavy changes. He was limp; his head falling forward. There was a large welt on his head above his left temple and a nasty cut under his right eye. Other than that, he looked okay, but Dipper couldn't tell if he was conscious.

He tried to get Bill's attention by banging his shoes on the floor. Bill lifted his head, and Dipper could see his eyes were red from crying.

"I'm so sorry Pine Tree," he said, tears dripping down his face. "I should have left a long time ago, I knew you were going to get hurt again but I stayed anyway."

Dipper shook his head franticly. He cursed the duct tape on his mouth.

'That's not true, it isn't your fault,' he thought frantically.

"It's all my fault. My staying with you put you in danger. I should've left." He wasn't really talking to Dipper anymore, just cursing himself.

A loud, slow, clapping echoed through the building. Dipper rolled over to face this new person.

"I think Cipher has finally learned his lesson, don't you boys?" The man standing before Dipper looked like an older, more mature human Bill. His hair was red, as were his eyes. He was tall, taller than Bill, and well-muscled. He wore a red and black suit with a long tailcoat and a red top hat. He leaned on a cane, but more for show than actual support.

Behind him stood a row of demons that Dipper did recognize. They were the 'band of interdimensional criminals and psychopaths' that Bill Cipher once called his friends.

The red haired man approached Dipper and crouched down. He grinned with pointed teeth and Dipper felt fear shiver down his spine.

"Let me introduce myself," Ben grabbed the front of Dipper's shirt and lifted him into the air. "I'm Ben Crypto, Bill Cipher's father."

'What?!' Dipper thought. He'd never thought about the possibility of Bill having a father.

"Oh yes," Ben said, having heard Dippers thoughts. "He never told you about me did he? I'm not surprised, he never liked me much. But now I am taking him back. I just had to show him who is boss." Ben tossed Dipper to the side where he landed on the dusty floor with a thud.

Bill's eyes teared up again when he saw Dipper being treated like that.

Ben waltzed up to Bill, a knife materializing in his hand. With one swift movement, he sliced Bill's shirt off. He glared at the pentagram emblazoned on his chest.

"That foolish meat bag. You really think this measly thing will stop me!?" Ben's hands flared with red fire. He placed the knife on Bill's skin, and sliced right down the middle of the tattoo.

Bill's cry made Dipper's heart skip a beat. His eyes teared up at seeing him in pain. Ben twisted his hand as though reaching into another dimension and pulled out a small pulsing yellow orb. Dipper knew what it was.

Bill's mismatched eyes were wide with fear of that shinning orb. He struggled against his bonds for the first time, but it was useless. He didn't have the strength to break free.

Ben smiled at Bill's fear as he slowly tossed the orb up and down. He held the orb in his index finger and thumb. With his other hand, he held open the bleeding cut just under Bill's collar bone. As Bill screamed bloody murder, the dream demon forced the orb inside Bill where it dissolved and merged with him.

Dipper watched in horror as Bill screams of pain became evil laughter. His eyes changed to a solid black, his teeth sharpened to points like his father's. With hardly a flick of his wrists, the chains broke. He stood before his father who looked, almost lovingly, at Cipher.

"Father," Cipher said, a strange amusement in his voice. "I still hate you," he said flatly, snapping his fingers the red demon vanished in a flash of blue fire. Cipher glared at the other demons in the room with those black soulless eyes. One by one they burst into flames and melted like candle wax. Then, he turned those eyes on Dipper.

Dipper was shaking; this wasn't Bill, and it wasn't even the demon who had tormented him two years ago. This Bill Cipher was furious, wrathful, and vicious.

"Little Pine Tree," he bent over and grabbed Dippers throat, lifting him up. He couldn't breathe as he tried hopelessly to wiggle out of Cipher's grasp. Bill held his hand out behind him. Scrap metal obeyed his command and flew into his hand taking the shape of a triangle brand. The demon held the brand out as the end glowed.

'No! No!' Dipper thought. 'Bill don't do it!'

"THE BILL YOU KNOW IS DEAD!" Cipher roared as he pressed the glowing piece of metal to Dippers chest.

Oh the pain was unbearable. He had no idea how long it lasted, but as some point he found himself on the floor again, a dull throbbing in his chest. His heart beat was too slow…

 **Yes, I did leave if off like that. If you haven't already decided I was evil, you will now. Keep an eye out for the next chapter and let me know what you think.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow you guys, today has broken the previous record for most views of this story in one day, at the moment it is at 355 views today and 1,728 views total. I never thought this story will do so well. Thank you all for that. And before you get scared, no this isn't the last chapter, I still have much more story waiting for you all.**

Bill sat up in bed, soaked in sweat, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest. Pine Tree groaned and turned over.

"Go back to sleep Bill," he muttered. Bill grabbed at his chest, no cut. He fell back into his blankets. 'A nightmare,' he thought. 'It was just a bad dream.' He lay on his side and pulled the half asleep Pine Tree to him. Pine Tree curled up against his chest, clutching his shirt in a fist. Bill held him tenderly, relived that he hadn't really caused him pain.

The sunrise's light poured through the widow. Outside, a bird sang it's good morning song to the sun. Shooting Star muttered something in her sleep, something about glitter. 'Typical Shooting Star,' Bill thought to himself.

He just lay there for a while, unable to go back to sleep. After about an hour, the sun was well into the sky and Pine Tree shook himself awake. He sat up and yawned.

"Morning Bill," he said while stretching.

"Morning Pine Tree," Bill said smiling. Pine Tree smiled back.

"What do you want to do today?" Pine Tree asked, adventure in his eyes.

"You pick," Bill said.

"Go back to bed boys," Shooting Star mumbled. Quietly, the two boys got dressed and crept down the stairs. In the kitchen, Ford slouched over a cup of coffee and the newspaper.

"Good morning boys," he yawned.

"Morning grunkle Ford."

"Morning Sixer." Bill went to the cupboard while Pine Tree sat across from Sixer and started talking about math and science. 'Typical Pine Tree," Bill chided to himself. He poured himself and Pine Tree a bowl of sugar coated cereal goodness. After covering them with milk, he placed one bowl in front of Pine Tree and sat down next to him.

He added little to the conversation as he inhaled his breakfast. His nightmare was fast vanishing from his thoughts. Everything was just so normal, it was easy to forget.

As the three sat there, everything felt right, but then for a moment, something felt weird, almost like Deja vu. But Bill brushed it aside. Nothing was wrong. He was just having breakfast with Pine Tree like he did every day.

After a while, Shooting Star made her way down the stairs, her hair a mess.

"Morning boy's, grunkle Ford," she yawned.

"Morning Mabel," Pine Tree and Sixer said together.

"Morning Shooting Star." She sat down next to Sixer.

"What are we eating?" she asked pulling Pine Tree's breakfast away from him and starting to eat it.

"Hey, get your own Mabel," he complained grabbing for the bowl, but she held it out of reach.

"Fine," Pine Tree sighed as he got up to make himself another bowl. Stan stumbled down to the kitchen a moment later. He poured himself some coffee and sat down between Sixer and Shooting Star, purposely squishing his twin against the wall. Sixer got up and took his coffee and paper to his lab.

Bill smiled and thought to himself, 'that is just like Sixer.' Waddles hobbled out of nowhere and leapt into Bill's lap.

'That's weird,' he thought. 'Waddles has never liked me.'

"I see Waddles has found his favorite spot," Shoot Star said cooing to the pig.

"Shooting Star, Waddles has never liked me," Bill said confused.

"What are you talking about?" Dipper said, "That pig loves you." Something came over Bill like a fog.

"Yeah, he's always liked me. I don't know what I was saying," Bill found himself saying

"Yeah, that pig rarely leaves Cipher alone," Stan said. The three shared a laugh, but something was wrong. Stan never called him Cipher, no one did.

"What's going on?" Bill asked.

"Something wrong buddy?" Dipper asked. "You feeling okay?"

"No!" Bill stood up abruptly and Waddles fell to the floor. The Pines looked at him with concerned looks.

"What's wrong kid?" Stan asked.

"Waddles has hated me the moment I got here, and you guys have never called me Cipher. What's going on?" At first, it seemed like they were thinking, but then Bill realized they weren't moving.

"Ah Bill, you should have just gone with it," a voice echoed from every direction at once. Everything evaporated and Bill was standing in pure darkness, he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face.

"Things would have been easier for you if you just kept thinking everything was fine," the voice said.

"What's going on?" Bill asked the nothing. But then he remember, his nightmare, it hadn't been a nightmare. It had been real, this was the nightmare!

* * *

Dipper lay motionless on the floor as Cipher grinned with pointed teeth. He snapped his fingers and the bonds holding the boy vanished. Cipher bent down and picked up the limp boy, draping him over his shoulder.

"Oh little Pine Tree," he cooed. "You will be mine." He could feel his power flowing through the boy; that little scrap of his own mind that he had burned into the boy was quickly taking over. Soon he would have complete control of him.

The building around him was burning with blue flames. He laughed a horrid laugh, his voice echoing into the night. But then, his gut twisted. That human part of his mind had figured out his trap.

"Ah Bill, you should have just gone with it," he droned. "Things would have been easier for you if you just kept thinking everything was fine."

"But now you will have to watch me murder your 'friends' and torture this human meat bag you love so much!" Cipher relished every word he said. He could feel the fear of human consciousness trapped in his mind. It was delicious!

 **There you go, but I can't take all the credit for this chapter, Psycho Delic263 gave me the idea. Thanks for that ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

**If you get confused, just remember, when I say Bill I mean the good human, and when I say Cipher I mean the evil demon.**

Stan was sitting in on the couch watching TV when Mabel walked in. The sun had set a while ago and she couldn't find Dipper or Bill.

"Grunkle Stan, have you seen the boys, I can't find them anywhere. And Dipper isn't picking up his phone," Mabel said. She was holding her pig who was content to nuzzle her chest.

"Nope, haven't seen them," Stan said not taking his eyes off the TV. "Hey, look at this." There was an emergency news report.

"We interrupt this program for a special news warning. It seems Gideon Gleeful's abandoned warehouse has mysteriously burst into blue flames." A helicopter shot of the building showed that it indeed was blue fire.

Ford bolted into the room, "Did the radio say blue fire!" he gasped. The helicopter was getting closer, and could now see a figure walking out of the burning building and heading up into the mountains. If the news woman was still saying anything, the three didn't hear it.

* * *

Cipher saw the helicopter flying above him. He grinned with pointed teeth and shot a ball of demon fire at it. It swerved out of the way at the last moment. He threw another this time hitting the base of the propellers. It started smoking and falling out of the sky. Destruction, it was enchanting.

He made his way out of the ruined building and onto a mountain trail. He could hear Bill screaming in his head but he ignored it. He couldn't hurt him without damaging his new body, and he was loving this physical form. He wished it was a little stronger, he could already feel his arms getting weak from carrying Dipper up the mountain trail. But any physical body was better than none.

He didn't really know where he was going, he just need a place to lay low until Pine Tree was fully under his control, after that, he could execute his plan.

After a while, he found a deep cave in the side of a hill. He went a ways in before dropping Dipper on the ground, only checking to make sure there weren't any too big rocks. Cipher sat down, his back against the wall.

'Stop hurting Pine Tree!' Bill screamed in his head.

"Oh shut up," he moaned rubbing his temples, this was going to get annoying.

From the place he fell, Dipper slowly opened his eyes. His whole body hurt, as though something was turning his insides to molten metal. All he could see was a rock wall, but he could hear Cipher talking to himself.

"Oh shut up."

"I'd kill you if I could, but you're a connected to this body, it will take a while to make it mine and mine alone."

"Yes."

"Now stop talking." Dipper realized he was probably talking to Bill. Hope flooded his mind. Bill wasn't dead! He was trapped in his own mind fighting back. There was a chance he could defeat Cipher!

"I wouldn't count on that little tree." Dipper stiffened, he'd forgotten that Cipher could hear his thoughts. He slowly sat up and faced the demon. Dipper couldn't tell what expression the dream demon wore because of his solid black eyes that showed no emotion, but his posture showed he was tired.

Dipper's head hurt and he pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Is something bothering you Little Tree?" Cipher asked, his mouth twisted in amusement.

"Why do you care," he retorted. Cipher cocked his head.

"Only that I want to know how much control of you my probe has gained," he said it calmly, but fear rushed into Dipper's mind. Suddenly, his left hand picked up a stone and tossed it to Cipher with him telling it to.

Cipher caught the stone and looked it over. "Not bad." Dipper knew he wasn't talking about the stone.

"Now let me ask," Cipher grinned. "How do you feel about killing everyone you care about?"

"What!?" Dipper asked, suddenly standing up without wanting to.

"Yeah. I don't know why I bother asking, you are going to do it whether you want to or not." Dipper's hands ignited in blue fire. At first he screamed, but when it didn't hurt, he stopped.

"Get ready, they should be here soon." Dipper stood there, unable to move and not from fear, but because Cipher had complete control over his body. Several long tense minutes passed.

Cipher cocked his head like a dog hearing a distant sound.

"Here they are," he said standing up as Ford, Stan, and Mabel appeared in front of the cave brandishing a strange array of weapons. Stan had bat, Mable held a frying pan and one of Dipper's pocket knives. Ford held a bottle of clear liquid, a cross, and a katana.

'Where the hell did he get that?' Dipper meant to say, but his mouth didn't work.

"Cipher!" Ford growled. "Give the boy back!" Cipher shrugged.

"Sure," he said snapping his fingers.

Fire shot from Dippers hands in an attempt to burn his family to a crisp. Ford jumped in front of the other two and ducked behind his black coat, the one he had worn when he came out of the portal. The demon fire bounced harmlessly off the fabric.

"Stop it Bill!" Mabel begged.

"I am afraid Bill is dead," Cipher lied.

'No he isn't!' Dipper thought furiously.

Ford pulled a small tube out of his coat and in one movement placed a dart into it, aimed, and fired at Cipher. The small dart burned up in a cloud of steam before it even got near Cipher. But the steam drifted over to him, and when he breathed it in, he started choking.

"HOLY WATER?!" he roared, his voice booming in anger. His yellow hair turned to blue fire.

Dipper charged at his sister, who stood dumbfounded.

"Mabel, look out!" Stan leapt in front of her and swung his bat. It hit Dipper in the gut and sent him flying backward into the cave where he didn't get up again.

Cipher roared like an injured beast. His left eye had ceased to be black, it had turned back to Bill's blue eye.

"Dipper!" Bill yelled momentarily taking his body back into control.

"STOP THAT!" Cipher yelled.

"Get out of me! Leave my friends alone!"

Cipher ran at Mabel, this time Ford was there. He splashed the holy water in Cipher's face electing another cry of pain from the demon.

"Get out of me!" Bill yelled, his body erupting in pure white flames that overpowered the demons blue ones. The flames looked almost like a pair of wings.

"Bill," Dipper groaned from the place he had fallen reaching out a hand to his friend. Bill/Cipher looked at Dipper, Bill's eye full of sorrow, Cipher's full of anger.

"I'm sorry Pine Tree," Bill said.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Cipher roared. Bill spread his arms. The white fire wings started to whirl around him. Cipher screamed in pain, drowning out all other sounds. The light grew too intense to look at.

* * *

Silence.

As though the world was morning, no animals made noises in the woods, even the creeks stopped gurgling as loud.

Bill lay in a heap on the floor. His teeth had returned to normal, his hair was fully yellow again. His eyes were closed and he didn't move.

Dipper scrambled over to him and pressed an ear to his chest.

Nothing.

He desperately started pumping on his chest with both hands. He paused and listened.

Nothing.

Tears streamed down his face as he blew into his mouth.

Nothing.

Ford, Stan, and Mabel knelt down a few feet away, tired and sad.

"Bill, don't leave me!" The tears were really coming now as he desperately performed CPR on Bill, trying to get his heart beating again.

"No, you can't," he sobbed pumping his chest. He held Bill's nose closed and breathed air into his lungs once again. "Don't leave me alone. I love you. Do you hear me dammit I love you!"

Nothing…

 **Writing that last part tore my heart out. Keep a look out for the next chapter and let me know what you think.**


	15. Chapter 15

"Bill, don't leave me!" The tears were really coming now as he desperately performed CPR on Bill, trying to get his heart beating again.

"No, you can't," he sobbed pumping his chest. He held Bill's nose closed and breathed air into his lungs once again. "Don't leave me alone. I love you. Do you hear me dammit I love you!"

Dipper rested his head on Bill's chest.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," Bill groaned. Dipper opened his eyes and stared into the mismatched ones looking back at him.

"Bill?" he asked. Bill nodded. Dipper pulled him into a hug. Both teens were crying, but not from sadness.

"I really was dead there for a while wasn't I?" Bill asked, too weak to hug Pine Tree back.

"Yeah, you were," Dipper said.

The other three Pines were relived. Dipper and Bill were still in pretty bad shape, but at least they were alive, that's all that really matters.

"I'm sorry Pine Tree," Bill said after Dipper pulled away. "This is still all my fault. I knew Ben Crypto was going to try something, and I stayed with you anyway. I just couldn't stand the thought of leaving you and…" Dipper silenced him with another hug.

"Shut up," Dipper said, not unkindly. "I love you and would never let you leave." Bill was really crying now, mostly from being overwhelmed. After a while, Ford came up to the two and with Stan's help, lifted the weak Bill away from Dipper. Mable helped her brother up letting him lean on her for support.

"Well," Stan said, "I guess this means another trip to the hospital."

"Unfortunately yes," Ford agreed.

"Why don't we all agree not to tell their parents about this," Stan suggested. The other four seconded that idea.

Once in the car, Dipper sat in the middle with Bill to his left and Mabel to his right. Bill wanted to sleep, resting his head on Dipper's shoulder, but Ford insisted he stay awake at least until the hospital, so Dipper had the job of keeping him awake, and Mabel had the job of keeping Dipper awake. Dipper had hit his head at one point and they were worried he might be concussed.

The hospital stitched up Bill's cut and treated Dipper's burn; he would bear the scar for the rest of his life. But other than that, there really wasn't much wrong with them other than exhaustion and some bad bruising. The two chose not to spend the night in the hospital. Instead, they crashed in their bed at the Mystery Shack for nearly three days straight. They slept right through Mabel and Dipper's birthday.

Things were quite for a few days. Bill was still racked with guilt about what happened no matter how much the Pines assured him it wasn't his fault. He told them his whole back story, about his creation by the red dream demon Bill Crypto, and about how he trained under him for millennia.

Bill had insisted Ford tattoo another protection symbol on him now that the pentagram was useless. Ford eventually obliged. He tattooed a simple black cross onto Bill's right shoulder and promised to reconnect the pentagram once the wound had fully healed.

After Bill had recovered a bit, he and Ford would spent long hours in the basement talking about Ben and the demon realm. Dipper was never invited to these discussions.

Ben's nightmares had returned, but at least this time it was all in his head. He would toss and turn at night forcing Dipper to wake him up to end the dream.

Dipper would hold his boyfriend until he stop shaking and fell back asleep due to shear exhaustion, needless to say, the once-demon wasn't getting enough rest.

Although the pain and sorrow of that day was fading, everyone was uneasy. Ben Crypto was still out there, and he was no doubt furious.

A few days after the actually date, a birthday party for Dipper and Mabel was held at the mystery shack. It wasn't a huge production, just their friends. Bill gave Pine Tree a blue and black hoodie that he had full intentions of stealing, and he gave Shooting Star a book that Pine Tree suggested. It was some fantasy novel, one in a series that she was reading, something about the ancient Greek gods being real.

The night after the party, Mabel fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but the boys were up for a while longer.

"Pine Tree, you awake?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"I really shouldn't stay with you guys. You'll just get hurt again."

"Shut up stupid, we aren't going to let you do that. You are a part of our family now, and families stick together, through thick and thin."

"You really mean it?"

"Of course silly, now go to sleep."

"Good night Pine Tree."

"Night Silly." Bill fell asleep soon after that. Dipper had to admit, he was scared that Ben would come back, but he loved Bill too much to let him go. He kissed the once-demon on the fore head and whispered, "I love you." He thought he was asleep, and maybe he was, but either way, Bill mumbled, "I love you too."

 **Sorry this is longer in coming than normal, right after I posted chapter 14, a nasty flu slowed me down. I would have taken a brake, but after that cliffhanger, I couldn't help but write, so sorry if it is a little rushed or not my best. I don't really know where the story will go after this, but I'll think of something, or you guys will. Let me know your ideas!**


	16. Part Two: Dreams and Tickle Fights

**Hey guys, I'm back. However, I can't guarantee chapters as often as before. For more information check the previous chapter; my hiatus notice has been removed and a update on the story is now there.**

* * *

The Once Demon, Part Two: Chapter One, Dreams and Tickle Fights

Dipper pulled his sleeping shirt over his head and tossed it in a corner. Bill visibly flinched at the sight of the scar on the left side of his chest. Bill couldn't stand to look at Pine Tree's scar, the one that was all his fault. He looked down and the floor and pulled his shirt over his head.

The massive scar on Bill's back looked fresh in the morning sunlight. The sadness and unease of the past few days filled Bill with unhappiness. Dipper wrapped Bill in a hug and buried his head in his boyfriends shoulder.

Bill barely felt Pine Tree's hands on his back, many of his nerves there had been destroyed by the wound. But he felt his boyfriend's tears on his shoulder and hugged him tight. Then, Pine Tree's hands moved upward. Bill felt a knee slam into his chest and he fell backward onto the bed, winded. The brunet's hands locked onto his neck and squeezed.

Bill looked into Pine Tree's eyes, but they were not the soft brown he was used to, they were slit pupiled and yellow. Bipper grinned with pointed teeth and cackled.

Bill tried to shove him off, with hands and feet, but as his windpipe was crushed, he couldn't find the strength. Slowly, his life left him.

* * *

Dipper woke to his boyfriend's scream. His eyes snapped open to see Bill sitting bolt upright in bed. He gently pulled the still asleep blond back down and cradled his head against his chest. This had been happening more and more, and Dipper couldn't figure out how to stop it. The best he could do was comfort his boyfriend until his unconscious mind moved onto another dream. He silently thanked whatever god might be out there that Mabel was spending the weekend at her friend's house.

Bill was crying against his chest now, clutching at his shirt. Dipper could tell however that he wasn't really awake, he was having another night terror. He gently ran his fingers through that beautiful yellow hair. This usually calmed Bill right down. Gradually, the once-demon's breathing deepened and his heart rate slowed. He'd fallen into a different sleep. Hopefully a calmer one.

Dipper woke several hours later to his alarm clock blaring; he'd forgotten to turn it off. It was Saturday; there was no school. Angry, he pulled the cord out of the wall and turned over. Bill's mismatched eyes were looking back at him, his face turned up in a smile.

"Morning," Bill said cheerily, clearly not remembering his night terror only a few hours ago.

"It's not morning yet," Dipper groaned as he rolled on top of Bill smothering him.

"Dude, can't breathe," Bill's muffled voice came from under Dipper's chest. He pushed him off and gasped. Dipper smiled, glad to see Bill's mood put him in a playful one. Bill started incessantly poking Dipper, in his ribs, on his noise, on his shoulder.

"Okay, okay stop," Dipper broke down in laughter as the poking changed to tickling. Bill grinned. He kicked the blanket onto the floor and stood up to stretch. Dipper admired his build. He had started to get some muscle from gym class, and he'd grown a few inches. His yellow hair was over-grown and standing up all over the place. There was a small scar above his left eye from when he fell down the stairs a few weeks ago.

It was really Dipper's fault, he'd started the rough housing that lead to them both falling down the stairs. Bill looked over his shoulder at Dipper and smiled slyly.

"Oh no you don't!" Dipper warned attempting to scramble away, but Bill was faster. He picked Dipper up and flung him over his shoulder fire man style. Dipper playfully squirmed in his grasp, but not so much that he would be dropped.

Bill dramatically kicked open the door and marched down the stairs to the living room where Ford barely looked up from his paper. He was used to their shenanigans now that they were officially a couple.

Bill gently tossed Dipper onto the couch where he landed on his back. Before Dipper had a chance to get away, Bill sat on his chest pinning him down.

"Okay, okay let me go," Dipper laughed. Bill grinned and while he had Dipper pinned took the chance to kiss his boyfriend. Dipper played fair at first before gently biting Bill's lower lip.

"Hey, that wasn't very nice," Bill said unable to wipe the smile off his face.

"You deserved it. Get off." Bill leaned back down until he was in Dipper's face. He opened his mouth and, licked Dipper from his chin to eye.

"Gross," Dipper said managing to push the tall boy off. He sat up and whipped face with his shirt. Bill stood in a stance that Dipper recognized. He was daring him to retaliate.

"Oh it is on," Dipper said lunging at the blond who easily dogged and took off. Dipper chased him around the house, bumping into walls and tables in his attempt to catch him. Finally, he cornered him in Ford's room. Dipper tackled the taller boy to the ground and licked his finger before sticking it in the once-demon's ear.

"Eww. Stop that," Bill squirmed under him. The resulting wrestling match quickly devolved into a tickle fight. They were still laughing as they munched their cereal that morning. Bill actually snorted his milk out his noise which only sent the couple into an even more un-quell-able fit of laughter.

* * *

 **So, I have a few different ideas as to which direction this story can go, but I would like your input. Would you like to see Bipper, Cipher taking control of Dipper, or do you want to see more of Ben Crypto? Send me a review and let me know.**


	17. Part Two: The Wheels on the Bus Go Round

**Hey guys. This chapter might not be all that long but it was a hell of a beast to write. I've finally got an idea of where the story is headed, but it's all still pretty vague. Anyway, enjoy.**

Ben growled in rage as he finally found what was left of Cipher. The demon was nearly dead, lying face down on the side of a volcano. He was covered in red angry burns and nasty infected looking cuts. When Bill had over powered him and forced him out of his body, he was violently sent back to his home realm.

The world of these demons is most likely the source of many interpretations for hell. Fire and brimstone rained from an ever black sky. Rivers of lava flowed and pooled everywhere over black volcanic glass and charred bones.

Despite being in their home realm, both Bill and Ben had retained their human form. It took time an energy to changes one's form, something neither of the demons had at the moment.

Ben knelt down and flipped the yellow haired demon over. His eyes were pure white, blinded from Bill's white fire, and he was completely unresponsive. A feral growl emitted once again from the older demon. His creation was only moments from death, and he wouldn't be able to go back to the human realm in physical form for several hundred years. It'd taken him centuries to collect enough power to manifest on his own like that, and it'd take just that long to do it again.

The furious father cradled his dying son's head when an idea came to him. Cipher might be about to die, but he still held a massive amount of power within him. Whatever was left of his life force was energy for the taking. His death would not be in vain.

Ben pressed his forehead to Cipher's, and drained the last of his life force away. The younger demon turned to dust in his arms, but Ben Crypto felt amazing. He'd gained enough power to manifest in the human realm with just a few more days of preparation. He'd have his revenge on those meat bags soon enough.

* * *

Today Bill and Dipper's class was going on a field trip to local art museum. Bill was intrigued. He'd never really understood humans desire to make art, but was interested in learning more. At the moment however, he sat next to Dipper on the bus, bored. Dipper's 3DS was sitting, turned off, in his lap. He didn't feel like playing it.

Dipper could tell that something was troubling his boyfriend. He hesitated to ask about it; if Bill wanted to talk, he'd bring it up on his own.

Bill rested his head on the cool window. The weather was quickly turning to winter and he had long ago decided he didn't like the cold. It was too inconvenient. He was wearing one of Dipper's jackets, the blue one he had given him for his birthday. It smelled like Pine Tree which helped to calm his nerves, but he was still on edge.

He'd had a dream last night, a dream with Crypto. While the older demon had talked plenty, he hadn't really said anything that Bill couldn't have come up with on his own, so he was unsure it was really Ben and not just his unconscious mind.

Finally, Dipper broke the silence that had fallen between him.

"Bill, what's wrong?" he asked placing a reassuring hand on the taller teen's leg. Bill jolted out of his thoughts and shook his head to clear it. He looked into Pine Tree's troubled eyes.

"Nothing," he lied. "Just tired." That wasn't entirely untrue. He never slept well anymore, not since he started having night terrors. He knew Pine Tree didn't get much rest either, not with having to wake up and calm him down most nights.

"Yeah," Dipper agreed, resting his head on Bill's shoulder. Bill wrapped his arm around Dippers waist. Dipper recognized that Bill was trying to prove that everything was fine, but the muscles in his arm were tense, and that little scar above his eye twitched. He was on edge.

Dipper's head smacked into the seat in front of him with such force that he was knocked out. The bus had stopped so abruptly that everyone was thrown forward.

Bill pealed his head off the fake leather seat. Dipper started to slip to the floor but he quickly pulled him back into his seat and checked for a pulse. He found one a moment latter and let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He looked through the smoke and chaos to see what had happened. Someone opened a few windows and the smoke started to clear.

The trunk of a huge pine tree had fallen on the hood of the bus, however, a tree that healthy looking would never have fallen on it's own. Standing on the log was the culprit, a person Bill never wanted to see again.

Ben surveyed the destruction and chaos he'd so easily created. Children started to pour out of the bus as teachers tried to figure out what had happened. They couldn't see Ben Crypto; he had made sure that only one person would be able to see him, the one he was scanning the group for.

Ben hadn't spotted him yet. Bill pulled his hood over his head and draped Pine Tree's arm over his shoulder. He joined the flow of rushing bodies out into the street. They were on some forested back road. 'Why would the bus driver even go this way?' Bill thought to himself.

He prayed to whatever gods might be out there that Ben wouldn't spot him. It didn't work. The red haired demon sprang up like a deer, flying through the air before landing directly in front of Bill. The older demon was nearly a foot taller and far more muscled. Bill felt himself cowering in the demons presence. He wanted nothing more than to vanish under those wrathful red eyes.

"Hello Bill," Crypto said, his voice deathly calm. People rushed around them, ignoring Ben's presence as if he belonged there.

Bill fought back the urge to run. His fear welling up inside him. Dipper needed his help right now, he couldn't make the wrong move.

"What do you want Ben?" Bill forced the question out, his voice unintentionally higher than normal.

"You're boyfriend has something I want," he replied, that deathly calm slowly giving way to rage. "Something I intend to take."

"I won't let you touch him," Bill said, straighten up and regaining some semblance of composure.

"Funny, I was really hopping you'd say 'over my dead body.' That would have fit the circumstances much better considering I intend to kill you."

Bill wasn't sure what came over him, but he turned and ran into the forest on the side of the road. Ben's malicious laughter echoing into air as black storm clouds rolled in overhead like a coffin lid sealing them in.

Dipper woke to find himself laying on his back looking up through the trees into a stormy sky. As he tried to sit up, pain flooded his head and fell back down holding both sides of his head with his hands.

"Ouch, what happened?" Dipper wondered out loud. The pain subsided after a moment, and he careful tried sitting up again, slower this time. When the pain didn't rush back, he pulled his feet under him and sat legs crossed on the grassy earth. He'd no memory of how he ended up in the forest. Last he could recall, he was in the bus with Bill, and he was worried about something.

'Bill!' he thought to himself. Frantic he looked around, only to find the teen laying on his back a few feet away. He scrambled on all fours to the blond. He was really scared now. What on earth could have happened?

"Please Bill, you need wake up," Dipper gently shook the unconscious teen by the shoulders. A gash above his left eye was bleeding; his shirt was ripped by a three clawed slash. Dipper knew he wasn't dead, his chest rose and fell with slow breaths, but he was growing steadily more terrified in these dark evil woods and needed his friend.

"Please Bill, I need you. You have to wake up," Dipper begged. "How could a simple field trip go this wrong?" Dipper wondered out loud as he situated himself with Bill's head in his lap and his back against a tree's thick trunk. He absentmindedly played with the blonde's hair to calm his nerves. A monster howled in the distance. At least it wasn't raining.

Once again he wondered how in the world this happened. He wasn't expecting an answer.

"Something not of this world happened," a cold voice echoed. Dipper didn't yet see the owner, but he knew who it was.

 **I'm not kidding, I need your ideas. They are essential to the longevity of this story. I am a jack of all trades master of none. I might be okay at writing but I need inspiration and ideas from you guys to keep this story going. Even if you think it's silly or dumb send your ideas my way, it might just be the thing I need to get those creative juices flowing again. Thanks so much for your support, you guys mean a lot to me.**


	18. Part Two: Cake First, Torture After

**This chapter is very different than any other one so far. As there has been a continuous request for more information about Ben Crypto this is a look into his mind and thoughts during the last chapter, before he came back to the human world. Be warned, he's got more than a few screws loose.**

Cipher, I've got to save Cipher. He's mine, I want him back, I must have him back.

 _No, why would you do that Ben? He betrayed you. He destroyed your body. He must be fully eliminated._

That boy, the one Cipher wanted to protect, he must have the key. He still has a piece of Cipher inside of him. We watched as Cipher burned it into him. He has Cipher, we must go after him.

Yes, I can still save Cipher. My son, I can still save him. I just need to get to him, he's inside that meat bag, that human boy. The tree boy, what did Cipher call him?

 _You idiot! He called him Pine Tree, but that isn't his true name. You don't know his true name, he calls himself Dipper but that isn't really his name. His name doesn't matter anyway, you need to kill him so Cipher can never betray you again._

We don't know the boy's real name, we should find it out. If we can find out what it is, we can take control of him and get our son back. We can get Cipher back if we learn the boy's name!

 _No, you should just kill the boy and be done with it. You have the power to make a new minion, a new creation. You don't need to spend time on that low life traitor._

He may be flawed, but he is still my finest work. It took centuries and countless measures of spilled blood to make him. If there is still even a tiny piece of him in that meat bag then I can rebuild him from the ground up without all that work.

 _I still say you should just throw him out with the trash. You don't really want to be hurt again by him. He's tried to kill you more than once, not that you could really be killed, but that isn't the point._

The point is that we need to save him. He is belongs to us and only us, no one else.

 _That is not the point! The point is that you need to get rid of him. Find some other demon to train under you even. Countless demons would jump at the chance to be your apprentice, why waste time on this one?_

He is ours and we want him back. Other demons are far too weak and puny to really understand or mimic our power. We are the strongest, the first dream demon to ever exist. We need to be sure that the other one is under our control.

 _If you kill him, he will be under your control. It's all the human meat bag's fault anyway, he turned him on us._

I am right, it is the meat bag's fault, but not the tree boy. No, it is that other one, the yellow haired one calling himself Bill. Calling himself after my creation. He killed Cipher in the first place. I wouldn't have this dilemma if it weren't for him. The yellow haired human will feel my wrath, then I will decided what to do with that tree boy after the yellow one is out of the way.

 _Yes, you will kill the yellow haired one. Kill him and then kill the tree boy._

We will kill the yellow one, but not the tree boy, not until after we have collected the key from him. After we get that piece then we can kill him.

 _You could even kill the tree boy first and make the yellow one watch, then kill him. Punish him for killing your son, your creation._

Yes, I will kill the tree boy and make the yellow one watch, after I get the orb from him. Once I have that, then I will torture him and make the yellow one watch, but how to torture him?

We could cut him into little pieces.

 _You could boil him in oil._

I've done all those before many times. I want something particularly evil.

 _You could shuffle the functions of all the holes in his face._

We could drown him then bring him back to life over and over again!

I could break all this bones in his body and let him heal before doing it again, but that would take me too long.

 _How about you force all his faults to the surface? Make his deepest darkest desires unbearable to ignore. Magnify every little flaw he possesses until he goes crazy!_

Nah. We need something really creative.

We liked that idea.

I don't like that one so shut up. I need to think.

 _That is what you have been doing this whole time!_

We want cake!

 _You don't need cake, you're not physical anymore. You don't need sustenance._

I like the idea of cake.

 _Idiot, cake is for humans, you don't need it. You need to think about the torture!_

We'll get cake first, and then think about the torture. 

Yes, I will go get cake.

 _IDIOTS!_

 **So, if you're still unsure about what just happened, let me explain. Ben has been around so long, he's been to so many different worlds, possessed so many different people and absorbed so many life forces that he really doesn't know what he wants or even really who he is anymore. He is still probably the most powerful demon this side of the multiverse, but he is bat shit insane.**


	19. Part Two: Compasses and Wounded Pride

**So, apparently beagle's ears are not good mouse pads. I've been trying to write while sitting on the couch with the dog, and I've no place to put the mouse besides on her ear, but it doesn't register well.**

Ben towered over the trembling Dipper. His red eyes flicking this way and that like he couldn't decide what to look at first. His long red tail coat had flames embroidered along the edges, and his cane was topped with a glass skull. He practically radiated fire and death.

Dipper didn't know what to do. What was the right move to make with this demon? What did he want? Neither spoke for an uncomfortably long amount of time. It had started drizzling but Dipper payed it no mind, he was far more worried about not getting blown to bits. The look in Ben's eye proved this guy was nuts.

Bill was still unresponsive; Dipper terrified beyond belief. This guy had knocked him out with chloroform and tied him up with duct tape the last time they met; he didn't want to know what he would do this time.

Finally, Ben moved. With long confident strides he closed the distance between them. He knelt down on one knee in the mud, his face inches from Dipper's, so close in fact he could smell his breath. Chocolate? Why would a demon's breathe smell like chocolate? Dipper didn't have a lot of time to think about it, because Ben was doing something else.

He lifted one gloved hand to Dippers head and, flicked his forehead. It wasn't hard; Dipper barely even registered the touch. He was too stunned to react as Ben reached down to Dipper's lap and flicked Ben's head as well.

The red demon straightened up, dusting off his pants. His eyes were still darting two and fro, but his body now seemed strangely relaxed and calm, not tense like he had been a moment before.

"There," he sighed. "Now I'll just watch and enjoy myself." Dipper was extremely confused. Ben had tracked them down and somehow got them into woods to flick them?

"I did far more than that little bush, tree, I meant tree. Cipher and his stupid nick names," Ben didn't seem to be talking to him anymore. "Whatever, doesn't matter. Ta ta, good bye and all that. Have fun going insane! I know I have." With a flash of blinding light, he was gone.

The rain was really coming down now, as if had been waiting for Ben to leave. Dipper didn't feel any different, but Ben must have done something. What that something was, he didn't have a clue.

Dipper didn't have his backpack, but his phone was in his back pocket and it seemed undamaged. He pulled it out and called his sister. Why he chose to call Mabel he didn't really know, but he had no idea where he was and she had a GPS tracker hooked up to his phone. No matter where he was she would be able to find him.

* * *

Mabel was sitting through a very dull biology lecture when her phone buzzed in her pocket. A quick peek showed that it was Dipper. She'd had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach for the past 20 minutes, and now her brother was calling her in class? Something was wrong.

She raised her hand and got the teachers attention.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" she asked. The teacher rolled his eyes but let her go. The second she was out in the hall she answered her phone moments before it was going to go to voice mail.

"Dipping sauce, what's wrong?" she asked urgently.

"Mabel, I need some help. Can you get out of school and back to the shack?" Dipper asked. Mabel could hear the fear in his voice and it sounded like rain in the back ground.

"Probably. Why, what happened?"

"Ben Crypto showed up, I don't really know what happened, I got knocked out somehow. But Bill is unconscious and bleeding, and I'm in the middle of the forest, I don't know where. You have to find me and come get me. I've absolutely no idea what the hell just happened and I'm…"

"Calm down bro bro," Mabel interrupted. "Give me a second okay?" She pulled the phone away from her ear and pulled open an app. She was so glad she'd set up that tracker on Dipper's phone. He was always going into the woods alone and she worried he'd get lost. He'd never had but better safe than sorry.

"Okay, it looks like you are a few miles out of town off a weird back road," she said, opening up her messenger and typing out a message for Ford. She'd finally got him to use a smart phone, although his brother still refused to get into the modern era.

"Can you head east? The road should be half a mile that way. Ford is on his way to find you."

"East? How can I find east? I don't have a compass and the sun is hidden behind the clouds!" She could tell he was getting panicky, and he could never think straight like that.

"Calm down Dip Dip, your phone has a compass app." There was moment of silence followed by an embarrassed, "Oh."

"Are you okay now? Ford is on his way, get to the road and he will find you."

"Thanks Mabel. I'll see you soon, hopefully."

"I will see you soon. Good bye Dipper."

"Bye Mabel."

Mabel cradled her phone in her hands looking at the dark screen. 'That dumb dumb better be okay,' she thought to herself before turning around and heading back to class.

* * *

Bill was really heavy without Mabel to help carry him. He was totally limp and Dipper had a hard time holding him up. After a few minutes of struggling, he had a good enough hold on the blond that he was able to head east, guided by the glowing screen of his phone. The ground was getting muddier and the two boys were soaked to the bone. Dipper reminded himself to thank Mabel for getting him that water proof phone case for their birthday, it was currently saving his life.

Dipper hadn't really been paying attention to the ground, and despite the incline being slight, in the mud and rain Dipper slipped and fell on his butt.

"Dammit all!" he yelled to the gloomy sky as he struggled back to his feet. He wasn't really hurt, but his pride was bruised. Dipper hauled the once-demon back up and pressed one.

A sharp thorn bush tore at Dipper's leg cutting a deep gash into his flesh. It hurt like hell but he didn't have time to stop. Finally, the occasional sound of cars could be heard in the distance, but it still took a good 10 more minutes of struggling through thick underbrush before the road was in sight.

Dipper plopped himself down on the side of the asphalt. He was wet and miserable. His leg hurt as blood mixed with the mud he was sitting in. Gently, he wiped away some of the blood off Bill's face, only to have it replaced with more from the gash on his head. They were looking at another trip to the hospital, something Dipper was getting sick of.

Finally, Ford's car came rolling slowly down the road before stopping in front of the boys. Ford ran around the car and calmly helped put Bill in the back seat were some towels had been spread out. Dipper climbed in after him and after buckling up, and leaning back, promptly fell asleep.

 **Anyway, haven't really decided exactly where I am going with this, so I figured I'd just get this transition chapter out of the way so I can focus on the drama coming next.**


	20. Part Two: Mistakes Were Made

**Hey guys, sorry if I've been coming off as demanding, that was not my intention. You guys have given me so many ideas that I now have a really firm grasp on where this story ark is going. I want to specially thank, in no particular order:**

 **StarCrea8tion**

 **Bell Cipher**

 **GooStudios**

 **Chibissima**

 **WyldeHeart**

 **Astroblaze**

 **All you guys rule! Stay creative my friends!**

 _You idiot! That is not what you were supposed to do! Now you've gone and screwed it all up! You were supposed to pick one of the tortures not both!_

We messed this up pretty badly. The tortures don't go together it was one or the other.

I don't know what happened! Why did I do both. This is a disaster, a horrid disaster! Now neither torture will be appreciated properly! Can I possible make this worse for them?

 _It might not be that bad. You should watch and see what happens. You can guarantee it will be dreadfully fun to watch the chaos at least._

Chaos! Chaos! Chaos!

* * *

"Dipper, wake up," Ford gently shook Dipper awake in the parking lot of the hospital. He hadn't realized that he'd fallen asleep and now was worried. To his relief, the boy opened his eyes. Though they were a bit glazed over, he seemed well enough to walk. Ford left Dipper to make it out of the car on his own while he maneuvered the blond out.

He carried Bill with one arm while directing his great nephew with the other. The lady behind the counter recognized the group at once and called for a stretcher. Bill was loaded onto it and taken away. Ford stayed with Dipper while he got looked over. He defiantly had a concussion, although apparently the symptoms had been a bit delayed by Adrenalin as he promptly threw up in the nearest trash can upon entering the building. As long as he was woken up every few hours he should be fine. The gash on his leg was stitched up and he was sent home. Bill was another story.

After Stan and Mabel took Dipper home to sleep it off, Bill was still in the hospital. No bones were broken this time, but he had three nasty gashes on his chest that seemed, almost supernatural in nature. Although Ford was sure they were fresh, they appeared to be very old and were horridly infected. He never said it, but Ford was positive a monster or demon was the cause of it.

Bill's fever was downright dangerous and the doctor had no choice but to pumped him full of antibiotics to kill the horrible infection. They didn't even try to stitch up the wounds they were so far gone. The gash on his head was normal as far as gashes go. Just a few stitches and it should be nothing more than a faint scar in a few weeks' time.

Two day's passed and while Bill's temperature slowly returned to normal, he didn't wake up. He was still on IVs and under close observation, mostly by Dipper who refused to leave his side. This wasn't like the last time were Ben had trapped him inside his own mind, this was different. Ford wasn't really sure Ben was even the cause of this, although he hopped he was because if this is medical, there could be some long term brain damage.

Dipper had to return to school lest he risk getting held back a grade. He tried to dive into his studies to distract him from the worry but something strange was happening. He was getting bouts of unusually strong anger, often directed at teachers or people he didn't know. He was getting mad over the tinniest things, like someone bumping into him, or talking too loud in class. In the end he talked to the school counselor about it and she thought it might be because his boyfriend was in the hospital and he was simply extremely worried, so much so that it was coming out as anger. She suggested deep slow breathing exercises whenever he felt angry. It helped a little, but something was still off.

Dipper sat by Bill in his hospital bed one afternoon after school. He'd been unconscious for a week now. Dipper hated to use the word coma but he was hearing it more and more. Bill looked okay; he looked like he was just sleeping. Dipper held tight to Bill's hand, interlacing their fingers. He hadn't given up hope yet. This wasn't really that long for a coma. There was still a big chance he would wake up. But there was also a chance he might not.

A tear fell from Dipper's eye, followed by another, and another. He was sobbing while holding Bill's hand. He didn't want it to end like this, with Bill simply never waking up. He never got to say good bye even, or let him know how much he really cared about him.

Mabel peaked into the hospital room to see her brother crying. Ever since he started liking Bill, Dipper had been spending less time with her. She didn't mind that much at first, it was nice to see him really opening up to someone other than her, but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. She felt terrible for feeling jealous, but that was just the way things were.

In fact, she'd met someone too. Someone she hadn't really spent that much time with. He'd only just moved to Gravity falls a few weeks ago, but they became friends right away. Dipper had a few classes with him, and Mabel introduced him at one point, but Dipper was always a little preoccupied with Bill who got himself into trouble often.

Now, just when she really wanted to talk to Dipper about her crush, his attention had been snatched away by Bill again. Sure things were quiet and boring around the shack without the two love birds, but Mabel couldn't help but wish, at least a little bit, that the once-demon would just forget about Dipper so she could have her brother back.

* * *

Mable sat across from her crush the next day in the cafeteria. She wasn't really paying attention to what she was eating because he was just so interesting to look at. His hair was fiery orange, the bridge of his noise splattered with freckles. His eyes were a dreamy amber, almost but not quite unnatural in color. He wasn't really that tall, a little short for a guy really. Dipper had him beat in that regard even. He dressed rather plainly, in dark, almost black blue jeans and plain t-shirts in black or gray. Around his neck he often wore a simple black metal cross. His left ear sported a simple silver stud. Despite his plan appearance, he was amazing. He could draw way better than Dipper. He was creative like Mabel, even if he didn't use nearly as many sequins as she would, his slightly darker style of art meshed with her flamboyant style quite well.

Mabel watched as he talked and joked around with the other guys in their friend group, occasionally flashing Mabel that smile he revered just for her. She was head over heels in love. He'd asked her out on a date after Math class earlier that day, just dinner and a movie, her pick. There was a new animated adventure story with dragons and unicorns that she was dying to see and that she hoped he would like.

He later admitted to her that he wanted to see it but was too embarrassed to go see it by himself, but now that he was taking her, he wouldn't be the lone teen guy in the theater. Mabel couldn't wait for that weekend to come.

 **This chapter was written a little different than normal with a more third person view. Also, what should we name this mystery boy? I want one of you to have that honor. I need a first and last name so review and send your ideas my way!**


	21. Part Two: Love is in the Air, or is it?

**I apologize in advance for those of you who really want to see a lot of Mabel. She is a very hard character to write for and this story isn't really about her anyway. That being said, enjoy this Mabel chapter. Sailor phoenix black came up with the name I used for our ginger haired boy. It just fit too well. Sorry for any of you whose ideas never make it into the story for one reason or another, I'm just getting so many wonderful ones that it's literally impossible to put them all in because they can contradict each other.**

The doorbell rang which sent Mabel into a panic as she was still trying to decide what sweater to wear.

"Dipper! Will you answer the door?" From her place at the top of the steps, she could see Dipper begrudgingly open the door. There stood Mabel's date, dressed in his usually simple all black outfit. It wasn't like he was Goth, just liked simple clothes, on him anyway.

"Hey, I'm Brendan Calico," he held out a hand. Dipper glared at if for the moment before taking it and squeezing a little too hard. Mabel knew what he was doing. It was the intimidating brother act.

"Dipper Pines," Dipper said. Mabel had hoped he would be a little nicer, but he'd been in a foul mood for a while now.

"Ah, so you're Mabel's twin. She's told me a lot about you." He smiled in an attempt to break through Dipper's scowl.

"She's told me a lot about you too." Mabel was surprised. Sure she had talked a lot about Brendan, but she didn't think Dipper was actually listening. He'd become rather moody and brooding.

Mabel decided to break up the potently dangerous encounter and bounded down the stairs. She'd chosen her dark blue sweater with an umbrella, it was good luck charm to keep rain away.

"Hey Bren!" she greeted cheerily before promptly tripping down last few steps. Brendan caught her before she fell on her face. She blushed a bright red while straightening her sweater.

"Thanks," she said, smiling up at him.

"No problem," he smiled back. Dipper was standing there awkwardly, arm's crossed.

"Uh, Stan! I'm going out!" Mabel called into the shack not really sure where her grunkle was at the moment.

"Fine, but don't go getting yourself into trouble," he called from somewhere. Mabel hugged her brother and before he had a chance to react negatively she shoved Brendan out the door and slammed it.

"Uh, your family seems, nice," Brendan said awkwardly. Mabel sighed.

"It's not your fault," she reassured. "Dip Dip is distraught. His boyfriend is in a coma."

Brendan mouthed the word, 'Oh.' He offered his hand to her. She noted that his fingers were covered in graphite and charcoal. She placed her smaller hand in his, her marker stained fingers interlacing with his.

His car smelled like a mix of pine tree air fresheners, gym socks, and oil. It wasn't the best smell, but it wasn't too awful either. There was a bunch of sketch pads and pencils tossed in the back seat.

They were driving to the next town over, Gravity Falls' Movie Theater wasn't the prettiest place in the world, and all the restaurants were either run down or held bad memories. Mabel talked the whole way, telling Brendan about Dipper, and Waddles, about her home in California and the adventures she'd had. He was an excellent listener, asking questions at all the right moments.

By the time they reached the restaurant, Macaroni Grill, Mabel had been through pretty much her whole life story so she insisted Brendan talk.

"Where do I start?" he asked as they sat down.

"Favorite color," Mabel quizzed.

"Uh, black? I don't really have a favorite," he admitted.

"How can you not have a favorite color?"

"Uh, well…" he avoided eye contact for a moment while bushing.

"What is it?" she asked prying.

"I'm color blind," he admitted unable to keep from grinning.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" she asked genuinely curious.

"After I tell people they tend to not stop bugging me about it. 'What's this color?' 'What color is this?' It gets old really fast."

"Well I will promise not to do that," she said crossing her heart. "What got you into drawing?" Their conversation was interrupted while a waiter took their drink order. Mabel got a lemonade while Brendan asked for a root beer.

"Uh you asked about drawing right?" he asked taking back the conversation. Mabel nodded.

"I've always liked drawing, but I didn't really start to get good until I started high school…" Their conversation wandered all over the place, to the amusement parks they'd been too, to the pet's they'd had.

Their food came and went, and still they talked. They drove to the movie, and talked about what they thought the lives of the people in the cars around them were like. As they waited for the movie to start they talked about music and what they liked to listen to. It had been the perfect night and Mabel couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy.

The movie had been awesome. They walked out of the theater together, Mabel grinning ear to ear while Brendan tried to adjust to the light outside the theater. They made it outside and to the car before it happened. Mabel noticed that Brendan's breath had quickened. He leaned on the car, he was shaking.

"Bren, what's wrong?" Mabel asked worried. He slid down until he was sitting, knees pulled to his chest, unable to control his breathing. Mabel didn't understand what was happening, she knelt down next to him and took his hand, it was shaking.

"I'm having a panic attack," he said breathless.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked gently. He shook his head no. After swallowing hard he said, "You're doing the right thing." He squeezed her hand letting her know she was doing all she could.

After a few minutes, his breathing slowed, and he regained some semblance of composure.

"I'm okay now," he said shakily. "That just happens sometimes." The two stood up. Brendan still looked horrible shaken. Mabel wrapped him in the warmest hug she could muster. He hugged her back and they just stayed like that for a while, sharing warmth and calming energy.

Many miles away, in a quite hospital room, Dipper was sitting on the floor, holding his legs against his chest, his breathing was erratic. He had no idea what was happening. It felt like a truck was sitting on his chest. He felt like he needed to run, run and never stop, but at the same time he was light headed and dizzy. He was terrified, more terrified then he had ever been. More so than the time he'd been tied up and branded, more so than the time the world almost ended. More so than any time he could remember. It felt like he was dying, and there was no one to comfort him.

 **Sorry for the less than happy ending to this chapter. I was listening to some kind of dark music at the time, and feeling kind of sad. For those of you who don't know, this is really what a panic attack is like, the more extreme ones anyway, I've had many. The best thing you can do for someone having one is just be there with them. Be by their side until it is over and make sure they are okay. Really strong panic attacks are really exhausting experiences.**


	22. Part Two: Time For the Badness

I think everyone's favorite pawn has been out of play long enough.

Time for the badness! Time for the badness!

 _Go on Ben. Begin phase two._

* * *

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a blinding white florescent light. Instinctively he raised a hand to cover his face, but as he moved it, his joints popped and mussels creaked. He was very stiff. As he pressed his hand to his forehead, he felt a hard piece of plastic on his finger. Upon closer inspection, it was some kind of white clip.

Slowly, with more cracking he sat up in bed. His head throbbed and his stomach felt like a wild beast desperate to get out. The room was mostly white, with a sky blue curtain cutting off the right side of the room. To his left was a counter with lots of strange looking instruments, sharp needles and complex machines. There was also a small mirror.

He swung his feet to the floor and pushed off. On unsteady feet, he made his way to the mirror. The boy starting back at him looked entirely unfamiliar. Unnaturally yellow hair stuck up all over the place and got in his eyes, which were another oddity. His left eye was a light blue, and its vision wasn't as good as the yellow one.

The boy jumped as a nurse entered the room. She dropped her clip board on the floor in shock.

"You're awake?" she asked stunned.

"Uh…" was all he said.

"Please, sit down. You shouldn't be walking," she took his shoulder in a firm grip and led him back to the bed. He sat down and stared up at this person. He didn't know what she wanted.

"Okay," she said flipping to a different page on the clip board. "Can you tell me where you are?"

"Uh… No?" he said. He didn't have a clue. The nurse looked worried now.

"Can you at least tell me who you are?"

"Who I am?" he repeated slowly. "You mean my name?" She nodded encouragingly.

"No." Her shoulders fell. "Can you remember anything?"

"No."

* * *

Dipper got the phone call at 2:00 am Friday morning. It had been almost three weeks to the day since Bill fell into a coma and he wasn't showing any signs that he would be waking up. The ringtone for the hospital blared startling both Dipper and Mabel awake. Upon recovering a bit, he snatched up the phone, pressed the green button, and smashed it against his ear.

"Hello?" This phone call could only mean one of too things, Bill was dead, or he as awake.

"Hello, Mr. Pines?" a bored lady asked.

"Speaking."

"The hospital needs you to come in."

"Okay, why?" Dipper asked swallowing his fear.

"A Bill Forester has woken up. You requested we call you the moment he did."

Dipper was out the door and into Ford's car before she even finished that sentence. He forgot for the moment that he should have woken up Ford or Stan first, or that he might need them to get into the hospital. The speedometer never dipped below 70.

The automatic doors slid open with a whoosh and a rattle, one was always loose on its track. He flashed the visitor badge he'd requested weeks ago so he could check on Bill whenever he wanted.

Outside of Bill's door, a male nurse waited. Something didn't feel right in Dipper's stomach. He knew this nurse, he'd been the one to keep a close eye on Bill when he wasn't around

"Dipper," the nurse, Dave, said slowly and calmly. 'Uh oh' was all Dipper could think. That really didn't sound good. Dave placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder.

"Where is Bill? I need to seem him!" Dipper said, he could feel his anger rising up.

"Calm down. You can see him in a second. There is just… something I have to tell you first." Dipper waited impatiently while Dave gathered his words.

"Bill. He, well… He doesn't remember anything." It felt like Dipper had been hit by a truck. His world has just been smashed. He had trouble getting his mouth to work to form words.

"Nothing?" he asked softly. Dave shook his head sadly.

"Not even his own name. I'm sorry kid." Dave moved out of the way to let Dipper through.

Bill was sitting on his bed, fiddling with a soft blue plusie, the nurse said it was sea horse. He didn't know where it came from, but there was something familiar about it. He looked up when someone entered the room. It was a boy with brown hair and brown eyes. He looked disheveled and crumpled. He was wearing jeans that looked like they'd been thrown on in a hurry, and a graphic t-shirt that was on backwards.

"Your shirt is on backwards," Bill stated simply. The boy looked down and sighed exasperatedly. He pulled the shirt over his head. Bill involuntary flinched when he saw the triangle brand on the boy's chest. It radiated evil.

Dipper had fixed his shirt and moved to sit down in a chair by Bill's bed.

"Hey man," he greeted. He had hopped beyond hope that Bill would recognize him. But there was nothing in his eyes but confusion and indifference. 'Is this what he had been like when Ben created him?' Dipper thought. He shook his head to clear it.

"You don't remember anything huh?" he asked gently. Bill shook his head.

"No. Nothing. They said my name is Bill Forester but that just doesn't sound right."

"Probably because that is not your real name," Dipper said. He wasn't sure he should be saying this, but he wanted to jog Bill's memory.

"You're name is actually Bill Cipher." Nothing erupted in fire, nothing melted. No magical beast was summoned. No recognition in Bill's eyes.

"That doesn't sound right either," Bill said returning his attention to the toy in his lap.

"You don't remember me at all?" Dipper asked.

"Should I?" Bill questioned. That tore at Dipper's heart so much he could feel the pain in his chest.

"Yeah," he said trying to keep his voice calm despite the tears that threatened. "I'm Dipper Pines, your boyfriend." Bill's expression changed, not to one of recognition, but to one of pity and sorrow.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice softer. "But I can't remember." For the first time he seemed frustrated. Now there was something he really wanted to remember. He had a relationship with this person, this person he had apparently loved. He needed to remember. He rubbed both his temples as if that would jump-start his memory.

"Hey," Dipper said, his voice calm once again. "Don't push yourself okay? I'm sure you will get your memory back."

"I hope so," Bill sighed. "I want to remember."

 **It seems Ben took over my intro ;P. But I've got it back. Next up, more of Brendan and Mabel! Review and tell me what you think, I love to hear from you guys!**


	23. Part Two: A Maybe Pink Plastic Horse

**I wanted to post a chapter yesterday but I was up till 3:00 am Wednesday night, Thursday morning, playing a rather emotionally draining game at my best friend's request. The game was Gone Home if any of you've played it you'll know what I mean. So I didn't get to writing this chapter until today. Enjoy, and thank you all for your reviews, they always make my day!**

"Here," Brendan held out a muffin to Mabel who gratefully took it and began inhaling it. They'd grown very close the past week, but this Friday Mabel looked particularly frazzled. Brendan sat down in the desk next to her. He already heard the gist of what had happened via text, so he was actually surprised to see Mabel at school.

"I would've thought you'd skip school today," he said before taking a sip from his coffee.

"No, we have a test in history today, and after I studied so hard for it, I don't want to fail," Mabel said her mouth full of muffin.

"Looks like Dipper's playing hooky though," he commented looking around the class and seeing he wasn't there.

"Yeah, well, he's pretty upset."

"I would be too. If you fell into a coma and woke up with no memories at all I'd be pretty distraught." It was meant as a casual comparison but Mabel couldn't help but feel touched. The bell rang, or rather beeped, and the two turned their attention to the teacher. Brendan watched Mabel out of the corner of his eye and when she first started to doze off, he gave her is coffee; she needed it more than he did.

Brendan had seen Mabel hyper before and he worried he'd made a bad choice with the coffee, but as it turns out, she handles caffeine rather well. She was perfectly cheery their next class together, and by the time they walked out to his car, she felt she did really well on her history test. The coffee was wearing off though. As soon as she buckled herself into the passenger seat and leaned back, she was out.

Brendan smiled to himself as he drove her home. He tried to keep his eyes on the road, but she was so cute it was hard to. Nothing bad happened, other than hitting a squirrel, but as long as Mabel never found out he wouldn't get in trouble for it.

Both residents' cars were parked against the side of the shack, and a tour bus was on the front lawn. Brendan had never taken the tour during the Mystery Shack's hours, but Mabel had shown him around one time.

He opened Mabel's door and tried to wake her up gently, but she was out cold. So instead, he unbuckled her, scooped her up, and carried her inside, going through the door that lead to the living space of the Shack and not the museum or gift shop. He was going to take her to her bed, but stopped half way up the stairs when he heard sobbing from her room. He didn't know if it was Dipper or Bill, who he had never formally met, although he had visited him with Mabel while he was still in a coma.

The couch was where Brendan finally placed Mabel. It was the newest piece of furniture in the shack, having been purchased a few years ago on account of the shack's increased number of residents during the summer. He found a blanket by the TV and covered her with it. She looked so peaceful while she slept.

Brendan heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see Ford, noise deep in a book. Ford looked up and saw Brendan there.

"Oh, hello Brendan," he greeted. He looked better than the last time Brendan saw him; his stress was visibly less. "Bringing Mabel home I see. Thanks for that, it's been rather hectic around here."

"It's my pleasure," Brendan said. "She fell asleep in my car, but it sounds like Dipper's with Bill in their room so…" Ford's expression fell.

"Yes, they are having a rough time of it," Ford said. He offered Brendan a soda but he politely declined saying he'd rather leave before Dipper knew he was here. He hadn't taken kindly to Brendan for whatever reason.

He was too late though. A shoe hit the back of Brendan's head just as he was about to turn around to leave. Dipper was fuming. A boy Brendan recognized as Bill hid behind him, despite being several inches taller. Dipper himself was taller than Brendan, all be it not by that much.

"Get out!" Dipper demanded. Ford didn't intervene which Brendan found annoying. He was Dipper's elder, he should be able to get the boy to calm down.

"All right, all right," Brendan said, holding his hands in front of him. "I'm leaving." He closed the door behind him just the other shoe flew into it. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Dipper didn't really have a problem with him at school, he just went to great lengths to avoid him. But at the shack it was a different story. It was like he turned into a wild animal protecting his den and Brendan was an enemy trying to kill his family and steal it.

As Brendan drove home a few minutes later, he turned the radio all the way up, not actually hearing what was playing, before screaming at the top of his lungs and holding down the horn. That always helped drain him of the anger he felt toward Dipper.

"What is that dude's problem?!" he yelled, directing his question to the plastic horse, that Mabel had assured him was pink, and bottle of nail polish on his dash board. Mabel had left them there one day and never retrieved them. He'd actually grown rather fond of the horse, up righting it whenever it fell over. There was other evidence of Mabel's existence in his car. The back seat now held not just his own jackets, but a few of Mabel's sweaters.

Once home, Brendan parked his car in the driveway, and just leaned back for a while. Once he felt calm enough to face the empty house, he snatched up his backpack, only to realize Mabel's was still in the car. He'd have to give it back to her before school Monday.

The sky blue door opened with a strong shove, it was a little crooked on its hinges. The interior of the house was clean and tidy, and very much unlived in. This was because the house was empty more often than not. Brendan's father was stationed at the Military base the next town over and his mother as a surgeon which lead to strange hours. Because the place was always empty, Brendan didn't spend a lot of time there, preferring to take his homework to the park or knocking around town with Mabel.

There was more evidence of Mabel in his room, where nail polish bottles sat on his desk and a sweater hung his on post of his bed. There was even some of her shampoo in his shower from the time they went swimming in the hot tub out back and she wanted to rinse off.

It was nice seeing reminders of her around him, it let him know he wasn't alone.

After a shower and a change of clothes, Brendan went down stairs to look for food. There was a $50 dollar bill on the counter along with a note that said, "For pizza. We won't be home tonight. Don't burn the house down." His dad must have written it because it was at least mostly legible. He wondered if Mabel was awake yet so he texted her:

Brendan: You awake?

Mabel: Yeah, hard not to be when Dipper is screaming at teh top of his lungs

Brendan: Sorry. You want to come to my place tonight for pizza and a movie?

Mabel: as long as i can bring Bil, Ford an stan r taking Dipper to some kind of syc meeting and I don't want to leave him alone.

Brendan: Bring him along, we'll get 2 pizzas.

Mabel: okay, we'l be over in a bit :)

Brendan: Can't wait :)

Brendan ignored her typos; she was a rather fast texter.

The door opened nearly an hour later as Mabel let herself in.

"Bren! We're here!" she called out.

"I'm in the kitchen!" he yelled back. Brendan had just pulled a batch of cookies out of the oven; he could bake pretty well when he wanted to.

"Oh, yummy!" Mabel exclaimed. Brendan pulled off his oven mitt and offered a hand to Bill.

"Hello. You don't really know me but I'm Brendan, Mabel's boyfriend." Bill looked at the offered hand before looking to Mabel for approval. She nodded and he shook Brendan's hand, his grip surprisingly firm.

"I'm Bill," he said breaking into a smile for the first time. Brendan could easily see what Dipper liked in him. His voice was rather musical he would probably be a good singer if he wasn't tone deaf, and according to Mabel he was. His two different colored eyes were rather endearing, despite Brendan's inability to tell just what color they were, it looked like maybe blue and yellowy amber.

"Brendan's completely color blind," Mabel told Bill who seemed to light up even more. "Bill's left eye is color blind," Mabel explained before Brendan could get mad about her mentioning it. Normally he didn't tell people that, but if it Bill could relate, at least a little, then it might help foster a good relationship with him.

"Cool," Brendan said earning another smile from Bill. "Okay, what kind of pizzas do you two want?" After the pizzas had been ordered, the three turned on Brendan's x-box and, at Mabel's suggestion, played Minecraft.

Bill was surprising good at it, despite being a bit more afraid of the monsters then he needed to be. The doorbell rang a while latter and Mabel jumped up to get it. Brendan and Bill were in the middle of a huge monster fight so Brendan called out, "There's money on the counter!"

With pizza in their bellies, and the movie almost over, Brendan found himself with Mabel asleep on his right shoulder, his arm around her waist, and Bill asleep on his left shoulder. He took another cookie off the coffee table and nibbled on it. The clock on the wall said it was 10:00. He knew he should take at least Bill home, but he was so comfortable and content he just sat there for another thirty minutes. That was a mistake.

There was a large crash from the entry way as the front door flew across the dining room, through a wall, and into the kitchen. Brendan looked behind him to see a figure standing there, cloaked in blue flames, Dipper's hat on his head and a murderous look in his eyes.

 **Oh cliff hangers, fun for the writer, annoying for the reader. Review and let me know what you think or if there are chapters you want me to write, am at a place where that is possible again. See you next chapter.**


	24. Part Two: Hell Fire

**I take it back, cliff hangers aren't always fun for the writer. I wanted to know what happened next too :P**

A blast of concentrated demon fire hit Brendan square in the chest with such force that he flew backward into the TV which crumpled like aluminum and fell off the wall on top of Brendan. Mabel was too shocked to move and Bill looked terrified. For a moment, nothing happened, then the TV flew back at Dipper. It hit him full force and pushed him through another wall into the kitchen.

Brendan was enveloped in soft amber fire, his eyes glowed slightly. The fire near his back looked like wings, spread open and ready to defend.

Dipper launched himself out through the hole in the wall and slammed both fists into Brendan. Mabel grabbed Bill's wrist and dragged him toward the smashed door way, phone in hand, as the two boy's flew through the wall where the TV once was and in to the office on the other side.

Dipper was kneeling on Brendan's chest, his shirt collar in his fist, the other raised to punch. Brendan got his feet under Dipper and pushed him off giving him the chance to stand up. Dipper grabbed the nearest object, an extra-large apple computer monitor and smashed Brendan over the head with it. The ginger fell back to the floor by the force of the blow as sparks flew from the ruined machine. Dipper tossed the computer away and stomped Brendan's head. His orange fire was dimmer now. It looked like Dipper had the upper hand.

Brendan's hand shot up and grabbed Dipper's foot as he started to stomp again. His fire flared back and, in one motion, he stood up and flung Dipper back into the living room; he'd only been faking hurt.

Brendan shot off from the ground by force of his fire and tackled Dipper as he tried to get up from the smashed couch, which had started to catch fire. As the two tumbled into the kitchen, Dipper got ahold of Brendan's left hand and bit it, tearing off a chunk of flesh near his pinkie. Brendan roared in pain as he punched through a cabinet near the floor and came out with a small frying pan that was promptly bashed over Dipper's head.

Brendan stood up clutching his bleeding hand. Dipper stood up as well and spat out the bloody chunk of skin and muscle.

"You bastard!" Brendan yelled, his fire flaring up even more. Dipper cracked his neck, and Brendan noticed for the first time that his eyes where yellow and slit pupiled. Brendan held up his pan and Dipper held up a knife he'd grabbed off the counter.

Brendan swung the pan as Dipper stabbed the knife. He managed to smack the knife away and leap backwards toward the glass doors leading outside. He wanted to get Dipper into the pool to extinguish his fire and hopeful knock him out without killing him.

Meanwhile, Mabel had dragged Bill all the way across the street as her phone called the Shack. No body answered so she called Ford's cell. He picked up half way through the first ring.

"Mabel, thank god you are okay. Have you seen Dipper?" Ford asked, talking much faster than normal.

"He's trying to kill Brendan!" she yelled, the street lamp above her flickered.

"Where!" Stan yelled, she was on speaker phone.

"Brendan's house!" she replied as sounds of more smashing echoed across the street.

"I know where that is," Stan said, it sounded like he was driving.

"Don't approach him Mabel," Ford urged. "I am sure that Brendan can handle himself. He is more than he seems." Mabel realized then that whatever power Brendan had summoned, Ford knew about it. That is when Brendan howled in pain and Mabel panicked.

Dipper was backing Brendan up to the wall. His left arm hung limp, the shoulder dislocated and wrist broken. Blood still poured from the bite on his hand. Dipper held the knife out in front of him. Brendan had lost his pan a while ago.

With inhuman speed Dipper lunged. Brendan tried to kick the knife out of his hand but wasn't nearly fast enough. He did manage to redirect the strike taking the knife to the upper arm rather than the chest. He cried out in pain again and crumpled to his knees, clutching at his left bicep where the kitchen knife was sunk handle deep into his flesh.

Dipper let out a startled yell as white foam hit him the face. Mabel, looking more beautiful than Brendan had ever seen her, brandished a fire extinguisher at her brother. Bill stood behind her, fear clear in his eyes. But Mabel didn't look scared at all. She looked powerful, in control, and a little sad.

Dipper opened his mouth to say something but only got another blast of carbon dioxide to the face. This time, Mabel didn't stem the flow and instead held the fire extinguisher on her brother until he fell onto the floor and his fire was out. He lay there in the fetal position shivering. Mabel nodded to Bill who approached the tormented teen and grabbed his shirt. As a tear fell from his eye he expertly upper cutted Dipper who stopped moving; he was out cold.

Mabel rushed to Brendan, kneeling down next to him in the rubble.

"Oh my god, oh my god," she repeated as she looked over his injuries. Blood was seeping out around the knife and a large pool of it had already gathered around his hand. Mabel tossed her phone to Bill.

"Call 911 now!" she ordered. The frightened blond did as he was told and dialed the number as Mabel tore off the hem of her shirt to tie around Brendan's arm above the broken wrist. Brendan tried to smile to reassure her that he was okay, but only ended grimacing in pain.

"Your shoulder is dislocated," Mabel said, not really talking to anyone in particular. It wasn't a statement that need an answer, but Brendan gave on anyway.

"Is that so?" he said through grit teeth trying to keep his humor intact. Mabel just looked at him sadly.

The Pine's brothers got there first. They rushed inside to see the situation was under control. Ford went to Brendan to check over his injuries while Stan pulled a pair of hand cuffs out of his back pocket, Ford didn't want to know how he got those, and small white rope. He cuffed the unconscious Dipper's hands behind his back and bound his arms to his sides with the rope, that wasn't from this world and therefore couldn't be burned through by demon fire.

Dipper was tossed in the trunk of Stan's car just before the ambulance arrived. Mabel went with Brendan to the hospital while Stan drove back to the shack with Dipper in his car. Ford retrieved his car, that Dipper had stolen, from down the street and drove Bill home.

Mabel sat in the truck wondering how this day could have gone any worse.

 **Is Dipper acting of his own free will? Where did Brendan get his power? Is this the work of Ben Crypto or just some freak accident? Will Bill ever get his memory back? Find out the answers to all these questions and more in the next few chapters! No promises!**


	25. Part Two: BC

**This chapter is pretty much just exposition, but you should find it interesting.**

That tree boy almost killed Orange Head! That was not supposed to happen!

 _Orange head wasn't supposed to seduce the Star girl! That wasn't part of the plan!_

How dare Tree Boy attack Orange Head? He went against our plan. They both went against our plan.

 _Orange head wasn't supposed to get involved with Tree's sister._

Yes, this is a dilemma. Orange head almost died, however…

 _You have a good idea. You could use this situation to your advantage._

Orange may have gone against our plan, but we can use this.

This is perfect. I will have him get even closer to Star and Yellow.

 _And then, you will have him attack._

No, we need him to gather information for us. 

He will be very helpful, that I am sure of.

* * *

Brendan grinned at Mabel, his face only slightly twisted in pain now. She was tracing the lines on the palm of his right hand with her index finger. His left arm was heavily bandaged and in a sling. His mom had personally stitched him up. Luckily, it didn't look like there was any permanent damage; he'd heal.

The hospital was strangely quiet, as if the world could feel the tension between the two.

She hadn't yet asked the question that was burning in her mind. Where had that orange fire come from?

Many miles away, in the basement of the Mystery Shack, Dipper was strapped down to a metal table, strong Velcro around his ankles, wrists, elbows, and down his legs and chest. He was unconscious, with an IV pumping extra strength tranquilizers into his blood. Ford was monitoring a device that was hooked up to his brain. He was franticly looking for something.

Stan was several stories above making hot chocolate for Bill. He had gone silent the ride home, holding himself and shivering. Stan placed a steaming mug in front of the blond and sat down across from him. The clock in the hall struck midnight.

"Are you okay kid?" Stan asked gently. Comforting wasn't really in his nature, but he couldn't leave him like this. Bill shook his head no and gingerly wrapped his fingers around the mug, but didn't lift it yet.

"Dipper isn't normally like this. Something just went screwy in his head. Sixer will find it and fix it, don't worry," Stan lied.

"It was terrifying. I realize he was trying to protect me, but Brendan didn't seem like a bad guy," Bill looked up at Stan with those mismatched eyes full of such a mix of emotions Stan didn't know what the right thing to say was.

"Well…" Stan scratched the back of his head nervously. "I think Dipper told you how you used to be a demon right?" Bill nodded.

"Well. Ford thinks a different demon was controlling Dipper. He didn't act on his own. He was being influenced by a demon."

"That is only a half truth," Ford said appearing in the door way to the living room. He sat down next to his brother, taking the coffee Stan hadn't yet touched and gulping it down.

"Bill, a while ago, you placed a piece of your demon self inside Dipper. You weren't yourself at the time however, after the incident, that small piece went dormant. I kept a close eye on it, and it looked like it would stay that way forever. But it didn't; it was activated somehow. I think it happened the same time you went into a coma. I think a demon named Ben Crypto did it. I've done a lot of hunting for information on him. The one thing that is agreed upon is that he is completely and utterly insane."

Bill let all that information sink in. He had very little context, Dipper had only told him so much about is past, skipping over anything that might upset him. He realized he'd done this to Dipper, and suddenly, he didn't want to get his memories back. At that moment, he felt like running away, going far away and never coming back.

The three sat in silence for a while. It was Ford who finally broke the silence.

"I'm going to check on Dipper. Stan," he placed a six fingered hand on his brother's shoulder. "Will you call Mabel and make sure that Calico boy is alright?"

"Sure," Stan said as Ford handed him his cell phone.

Bill was thinking, mumbling something to himself.

"Wait Ford," he said, a realization coming into his mind. Ford stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"I just realized something."

"And what is that?"

"B.C."

"What about it?"

"B.C. They are my initials. But they are Ben Crypto's initials too. They are also Brendan's initials."

Ford's eyes grew wide, wide with fear. He snatched his phone back from his brother and called his great niece. He held his breath as the phone rang once, twice, a third time.

"Hello?" Mabel asked sleepily.

"Mabel, are you okay?" Ford asked urgently.

"Of course," she said yawning. "I fell asleep at the hospital. Brendan's fine, but I want to stay with him tonight, just to be sure." Ford took a deep breath before replying.

"Okay sweetie," he said, forcing calm into his voice. "Good night." Mabel mumbled something that sounded like 'night,' before hanging up.

"It's just a coincidence I'm sure." Ford didn't really sound sure. "Go to sleep you two. I'll let you know if anything happens with Dipper.

Reluctantly, Bill went to bed, but he couldn't really sleep without Dipper. He tried cuddling his seahorse that Dipper said he had won in a claw machine, but it wasn't Dipper. Thinking about it, Bill realized Dipper wasn't really Dipper anymore, and he wasn't really Bill anymore. They were both shells of what they once were. Both fragments of a shattered past.

 **Hey guys, for those of you who don't check my profile, I have a twitter where I post updates on the chapters and connect more with you guys, check my profile for the link.**


	26. P2: Third Wheels, Kittens, and Brothers

**Sorry for the longer than normal gap between chapters, I hit a creative block for a while, but with the help of StarCre8tion, I was a able to find a way out of it. Enjoy this uneasy/fluffy chapter.**

Dipper's eyes flew open. His first and only thought was, 'Bill. I have to save Bill from that demon spawn!' He struggled against his bonds, pulling with all his might, but it wasn't enough. He looked around franticly for a way out. Above him the celing was rock supported by seemingly random metal beams here and there. A white curtain cut off his view of the rest of the place. Despite that he could tell he was in Ford's basement lab. He pulled against the bonds, struggling this way and that in an attempt to slip out. He tried summoning that fire again, but it didn't answer his call.

The device at Ford's waist blared loudly causing him to spill his coffee. He'd stepped out of the lab for just a moment, but quickly rushed back, pulling the curtain away to find Dipper somehow awake and very angry. He snatched up a syringe, filled it with more tranquilizer, and stuck it in the tube attached to Dippers arm. The boy quieted and soon slipped back into unconsciousness. Ford heaved a sigh of relief as he noted that the boy's bonds were singed.

"What am I going to do?" he muttered holding his head in his hands.

* * *

Neither Mabel nor Bill wanted to hang out around the shack after school anymore. Instead, they would hang out with Brendan, who was staying with them for a few days until his parents could find another house to move into. Mabel hadn't told anyone about Brendan's powers, and she made Bill promise not to either; she didn't want her grunkles locking him up or running tests on him.

Bill however, did not keep this promise and told Ford the whole truth of the fight. Ford was very concerned when he heard this, but chose to stay out of it for a while, until he had more information about the boy. He had more important things to worry about anyway, like how to get his nephew back.

Today was Tuesday, just a three days after the incident. Mabel, Brendan, and Bill where hanging out at the mall after school. Brendan's left arm was still heavily bandaged and in a sling. At the moment, the three sat in the food court eating burritos. Bill noticed that Brendan seemed distracted, not always answering questions the first time and looking into the distance a lot. Mabel didn't seem to notice though.

"Brendan?" Bill asked.

"Yeah? What is it buddy?" Brendan asked looking at him with those amber eyes; god he was gorgeous.

"Where are you from? Originally," Bill prodded.

"Well… I've lived in a lot of places. I'm an army brat." Brendan saw that Bill had no idea what that is. "My dad's in the military, so we move a lot." Bill nodded and went back to his food. Mabel was looking something up on her phone. Brendan drifted back to his thoughts until Bill tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" he asked pulling himself back to earth.

"So where have you lived?" he asked.

"Oh, all over the place. We even live in Hawaii for a while. That was kind of fun. And we lived in Florida until…" Brendan's expression darkened.

"Until what?" Bill asked but Brendan wasn't listening anymore.

"I'll, be right back," he said getting up.

"Where you going Bren?" Mabel asked.

"Bathroom," he said flatly. Once he was out of ear shot Bill turned to Mabel.

"Don't you think he is acting strangely?" he asked in hushed tones.

"You'd be awkward too if you were hanging out with the boyfriend and sister of the guy who tried to kill you a few days ago," Mabel said, she was fiddling with a Rubik's cube that she had, seemingly, produced out of nowhere.

Bill wasn't so sure.

Latter, the three where knocking around the park, but it was too cold to do much more than walk around. They all huddled in their jackets, Mabel was actually wearing one of Brendan's and Bill one of Dipper's. Bill hung back as Mabel and Brendan kicked a soccer ball around the grass. He couldn't take his eyes off the ginger. The way he moved, was so confident, like he had everything under control. But there was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes, like there was something he was dreading doing.

"Bill! Come join us!" Mabel called as the ball rolled toward him. He kicked it back to the brunet and soon the teens stood in a triangle kicking the ball back and forth and talking.

"Have you seen the commercials for that new super hero movie?" Brendan asked.

"No, what's it about?" Mabel asked.

"Just another Super Man movie, like there aren't enough of those out there," he scoffed. Bill kicked the ball back to Brendan.

"I haven't seen any of those," Bill muttered not really expecting them to hear him; they didn't. He was the third wheel, an extra. They were too lost in each other to pay him much mind.

He hadn't told anyone yet, but he was starting to get some of his memories back. They weren't much, just flashes of images and feelings; sometimes a short scene of him holding hands with Dipper or other such things, but they were coming back. He felt a longing in his chest and he realized he wanted a hug, but not a hug from just anyone. He craved Dipper's hug, no other would do.

The ball rolled past him while he was lost in thought.

"Bill?" Brendan asked jolting back to reality.

"Oh, sorry," he said running off to get the ball that had rolled into a clump of bushes. As he bent down to pick up the ball, he noted a little ball of gray fluff where no gray ball of fluff belonged. Upon brushing a bush out of the way, he found a frightened little kitten. It shifted away from Bill and raised the fur on its back.

"It's okay," he said calmly offering a mittened hand. The kitten hissed and backed away further. Bill pulled the mitten off with his teeth and offered his hand again. This time, the kitten didn't flinch away as much. It sniffed his hand before licking his finger. Gently, he moved his hand under the kitten and pulled it to his chest.

The ball under one arm and the kitten in other, he walked back to his friends.

"What'd you find Bill?" Mabel asked coming over. Bill wasn't sure, but from Brendan's flushed face, he guessed that they'd been making out.

"It's a kitten," he said tilting his hand so Mabel could see the ball of gray fur who had curled up against the cold. Mabel took off her glove and pet it.

"She looks cold," Mabel said.

"Here," Bill unzipped his coat and gently placed the kitten in the inside breast pocket. She curled up right way and started purring.

Brendan hadn't approached the cat.

"You allergic or something?" Bill asked.

"Uh, no. I just, don't like cats," Brendan said touching the back of his head awkwardly. "Or rather, they don't like me." Bill shrugged as the trio walked back to the car.

Once home, Bill found some milk and warmed it up for the kitten who was far too skinny. She, it was a she, lapped it up happily. Once she was done, she crawled up Bill's chest and nestled inside his scarf on his shoulder.

"You need to give her a name," Mabel appeared the kitchen doorway with her pig in her arms; she had been keeping him out of the kitchen so the kitten wouldn't get scared.

"What's a good name for a cat?" Bill asked. He'd never named anything before, not that he could remember.

"Whatever you want," Mabel said sitting down on the floor across from Bill and letting her pig go. "You could give her name like a person, or something fun like Sock, or Dust Bunny," she shrugged. "She's yours, so you get to name her."

"I'll have to think about it for a while," Bill said as the kitten started purring again.

* * *

Stan placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and shook him awake. He'd passed out on his desk in the lab.

"What?" Ford mumbled looking up at his worried brother.

"You've been working yourself to the bone Sixer," Stan said offering his brother a mug of steaming coffee. Ford gratefully took it and held it with both hands to warm them. Stan pulled a swivel chair from the wall and sat down next to his brother. From this side of the lab, he could just see Dipper's feet behind the curtain.

"How's it going Poindexter?" he asked.

"Not good. I can't find a way to remove the evil from Dipper without damaging him. The problem is that it is really only a tiny piece of a dead demon. It if was the whole demon, it would be easier, but as it is, the evil has merged with Dipper, and I can't get it out." He looked simply awful, dark circles under his eyes and scraps on his hands from working on different devices.

"You'll figure it out. You always do," Stan said trying to sound encouraging. He was just as worried about Dipper as Ford was, but there was less he could do. He'd managed to teach himself enough physics and math to fix the portal and get his brother back, but matters of the mind were far beyond him.

"Thanks Stan," he said, not really talking about anything in particular, just thanking his brother for being there, for caring.

"Never fear Sixer, I will always be here when you need me," he said as Ford leaned on Stan's shoulder and fell back to sleep.

"We'll get Dipper back, I'm sure of it," Stan whispered into the quiet. "I'm sure of it."

 **I know I ask for names a lot, but I am really going to name this kitten Shrub unless someone has a better name for her. Review and let me know if you have a better name, or have a chapter request!**


	27. The End?

Bill and Mabel held each other close as rain poured down on their heads mixing with their tears and making everything seem so much worse, not that it really could get worse. Bill's shirt was burned away exposing the massive scar on his back. Mable cried into his shoulder as he held her tight. In turn, he cried into the top her head. They'd both lost everything.

Nearby in the mud, lay two bodies, both mangled and bloody but still recognizable as Dipper and Brendan. Dipper had gotten loose and attacked. The two killed each other in their desperate attempt to protect their lovers. Now they both were dead, and Bill and Mabel had only each other.

A few trees burned nearby, blue and orange fire mixing together into a ruddy green. Blood poured into the mud and…

 _That is really bad Ben. Only you could write something so lame._

We thought it was a good ending. We want the story to really end that way.

I rather liked it. It would make a fantastic ending.

We should tell them about Brendan Calico, oh come on please, let us tell them.

 _You don't want to spoil the surprise. It would be mean to do that before The Author is ready to._

I don't want to ruin the grand reveal whenever The Author decides she wants to anyway.

Then why are we breaking the fourth wall? Isn't that like, bad for story telling?

The Author asked me to write a chapter because she is having writers block. So thought I would go ahead and end the story for her since she can't seem to decide how to, before I rudely interrupted myself.

 _Just get on with your story then._

I will.

Shrub and Wilbur, ( _It's waddles you idiot_!) were having a groovy summer picnic, at the beach. ( Who says groovy anymore? And why is it summer? We thought it was winter.

 _Ben has already forgotten what he was writing._

I have not, I just thought I would start the shipping of Shrub and Wilbur,

 _Waddles_

before someone else got to it.)

All of a sudden, an evil fire bender and Pokémon Master appeared out of the sea pineapple and attacked the pig and shrub spider. ( _She is a_ _cat!_ ) Before they could react, a white warg fell from the looking glass and destroyed the magic circle that kept the yo-kai from rising from the dead and escaping into Alagaesia. A yellow school bus called the Tardis appeared out of the ice and knocked out the son of the sea god with the hoof of a black bird horse. The prophesized savor Paul dressed in wrinkly clothes with a useless fake ID in his hand then manages saves the slaves of Sombra from Culver Creek Boarding School and takes them on a cross country trip to the paper town. Then, Shrub the kind dinosaur uses the lay lines to rescue the depressed donkey Temeraire from the Restaurant at the End of the Universe with nothing more than a ratty bath towel and a feisty fox squirrel. Finally, with a magic wand from Mewni Waddles the duck restores The Elements of Harmony to Middle Earth and they all lived happily ever after.

 **Ben this is not really what I had in mind…**

Oh crap, she is back. Pretend we are asleep.

 _Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz._

 **That's not going to work. Explain yourself now Crypto. I'm waiting.**

 _Quickly, while you still have control over the chapter! End it now._

The End.

 **Next time, I'm not going to ask for your help.**

* * *

 **I guess this is what happens when you let you're craziest character write a chapter. This isn't really cannon with my story by the way, but I really am having a hard time writing and the story needed some comic relief. Also, how many references did you get? I threw a lot in there so you should find at least one you know. Happy hunting, let me know how many you find!**


	28. P2: Who Is the Stronger?

**Once again, thank you StarCre8tion for jump starting this idea. Enjoy.**

Bill kicked a round stone with the toe of his boot sending it far out over the water where it disappeared with a plonk. The lake lapped at the shore driven by the small breeze. His boots sunk a few inches into the ground with each step. It had been raining for the past few days and threatening to snow, but never did. Finally, the rain had let up enough for the three bored teens to go outside. Shrub perched on Bill's shoulder snuggled into the folds of his scarf as they walked along the shore.

Mabel and Brandon where several feet ahead holding hands and often leaning in for a kiss. Bill suck his tongue out every time they did that, but they didn't see him. He might as well not be there.

There was still something off about Brendan. Mabel was refusing to acknowledge it, but he seemed really on edge, looking over his shoulder a lot when no one was behind him. He would just stop talking in the middle of sentences like he forgot what he was saying and would have to be poked or touched in order to get his attention again. Mabel tried to say that he had always been that way, but Bill wasn't sure.

Shrub poked her head out of her nest on Bill's shoulder. He smiled at her and she licked his nose. She wore a little pink ribbon tied in a bow with a bell on it, more for fashion than function. She adored Bill and had even learned to come when called. Bill took excellent care of her and with her snuggles he had been sleeping better.

Bill looked out over the water. No boats skimmed the surface. There wasn't any clear signs of life on the island, any animals were no doubt hibernating.

Bill's memories had been returning faster and faster, ever since he snuck into the basement a few nights ago.

* * *

The shack was always very quiet at about 3:00 am. This morning, Bill had made a decision; he had to see Dipper. He didn't care how much trouble he got in, he needed to see him. Bill crept on tiptoes past Stan's door, past Brendan asleep on the couch and into the gift shop all with four little silent paws padding along behind him.

Ford had opened the vending machine door many times in full view of Bill, and besides, the keys were worn most on the ones used in the code. The vending machine moved on well-oiled hinges. Now for the part that worried him the most. The elevator made some noise when in use, and he didn't want to get to the bottom and find an angry Ford glaring at him.

At every creak or groan Bill flinched, but when the doors opened again, Ford was not there to meet him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dimmer interior of this room, but after a moment, he could see Ford sleeping on his desk using a large physics book as a pillow.

So as not to lose Shrub in the maze of machines and books the lab had become, Bill scooped her up and deposited her on his shoulder. She stayed there quite content as she softly purred.

Maneuvering around the stacks of books and piles of mechanical parts in the low light was no easy task. Finally, Bill managed to get around to the other side of the room without an incident as he came to stand in front of a curtain. With a deep breath, he slid it away.

Dipper had lost weight, and a lot of it. He looked pale and sickly, not the strong happy person Bill had started to remember. The memories where really flooding back now, the time Bill had gotten a brain freeze, the first time Dipper kissed him. The time he snorted milk out his noise while eating breakfast. Everything came rushing back, all his memories of the time they had spent together, and the love he felt for him.

A tear fell. Then another, and another. He gently held Dipper's hand, worried and scared. He wanted Dipper back more than he had ever wanted anything. Then, a different kind of memory came back.

"Ben Crypto," Bill growled.

* * *

Bill glared holes in the back of Brendan's head. He was almost sure there was a connection between him and Ben, but how to prove it? The only thing he could think of was confronting him. He was taller than Brendan, but he wasn't sure that was going to help much. He needed to make absolutely sure he had the upper hand if a fight happened. No matter what he had to get the information out of Brendan, whatever information that was.

Brendan hadn't been sleeping well. Nightmares tormented him, dreams of his task, of what he had to do. He woke with a start as someone pressed a hand to his mouth. Intense mismatched eyes stared at him murderously. Without removing the hand from his mouth, Bill grabbed his shirt and yanked him to his feet. Brendan was exhausted and still only half awake as Bill led him outside and into the forest.

It was cold and he wasn't wearing any shoes, but as he was being led by the collar of his shirt, Brendan realized fully what was going on.

"Bill, what're you doing?" he asked finally waking up enough to come to his senses. Bill's only answer was to slam his back full force into a tree, he was stronger than he looked. Brendan was scared now, that anger in Bill's eyes had not dimmed.

"Bill?" he asked cautiously raising his hands in surrender.

"Tell me where you got your power Brendan," Bill growled. Brendan realized now what was going on.

"Did Ford put you up to this?" he asked trying to diffuse the situation.

"No, I figured it out on my own," Bill said pressing Brendan harder into the tree.

"Ouch man, that hurts," he said grabbing at Bill's arm as the taller boy lifted him off the ground by his shirt.

"Tell me, where you, got your, power," Bill said slowly through grit teeth.

"Easy, I don't want to hurt you," Brendan said as he held on to Bill's arm lest he choke on his own shirt.

"I'd be more worried about me hurting you," Bill said. Brendan stared wide eyed as Bill's his yellow eye turned blue and he was cloaked in pure white flames.

"H…how?" Brendan stuttered.

"I used to be a demon. I'm fare more powerful than a human playing at being one." Bill dropped Brendan who only just managed not to fall on his butt. He snapped his fingers a few times trying to jump start his fire. He finally managed to but it seemed far weaker and dimmer in the face of Bill's

Bill grinned.

"So I'm gona have to beat the answer out of you then?" he asked, a murderous rage in his eyes. Brendan swallowed hard and nodded.

Bill lunged at him fists blazing. Brendan held his arms to shield his face but that wasn't what Bill was aiming for. Brendan took two fists straight to the gut and was sent flying backward where he landed on a rock knocking the wind straight out of him.

As he lay there gasping for breath Bill lifted him by his shirt collar so he was at eye level with him. Brendan's fear was clear in his eyes, he could barely breathe, he couldn't speak, and his fire had all but gone out. This wasn't anything close to a fair fight. Bill outmatched him in every way.

"Bill!" Mabel demanded. "Put him down! Now!" Bill turned his head to look at Mabel who was glaring at the once demon. Under her sharp gaze Bill shut off his fire and dropped the ginger like a rag doll.

Mabel checked her boyfriend over for injuries an when she didn't find anything that wouldn't heal in time she turned on the blond.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?!" she demanded standing on tiptoes to get in Bill's face.

"I need to know where he got his power," Bill mumbled.

"Don't you have more important things to worry about? Like your boyfriend?"

"He's working for Ben Crypto!" Bill yelled pointing at the ginger sitting in the dirt.

"No he is not!" Mabel said, but she didn't sound so sure.

"Where else did he get his power? I didn't give it to him, I've got my memories back Mabel, I would remember if I gave them to him. Those are dream demon powers, and there is only one other dream demon out there!" Mabel turned to Brendan.

"Is this true? Did you get your powers from Ben Crypto?" Brendan nodded slowly.

"Yes."

 **Who didn't see that coming? I know a few of you did, probably most of you. Ben pretty much blurted it out last chapter. Anyway, review and let me know what you think is going to happen next.**


	29. P2: The Sad Truth

**Wow, sorry it's been so long since I have written anything. Long story short, I moved cross country and a lot of other stuff has been happening, but look at your encouragement has made me want to finish this story. So here is the second to last chapter. Enjoy.**

A ten year old boy stood on the curb waiting for his parents to arrive to pick him up from school. Most of the other kids had been picked up already and he was getting worried. His parents were always on time.

He sat down on the curb with his backpack in his lap, playing with a game boy advance. Only a few cars drove down the street now. It was a Friday and school got out early on Fridays. Maybe his parents had forgotten that.

A horn honked jolting the boy out of his thoughts. A light gray, maybe tan, minivan had come to rest in front of him, his friend's mother was behind the wheel. The window behind the drivers rolled down and a brown haired boy stuck his head out.

"Brendan!" he called. "You're mom asked my mom to pick you up today." Brendan nodded and stuck his game into his backpack. The brown haired boy slid open the door and Brendan climbed over him. He buckled up and the car took off.

Brendan waved good bye to his friend from the porch of his house. A police car was parked down the street but he figured it was nothing.

His parents were sitting in the living room with a policeman; his mother was crying. Brendan looked around for his little sister Sarah but didn't see or hear her which was rare.

"Where's Sarah?" he asked but only got a sad look from the police officer. Brendan's dad ushered him over and patted the couch next to him.

"We don't know where you're little sister is Brendan," he said solemnly.

"Why not?"

"She was kidnapped."

Brendan let that sink in. He'd heard of kids getting kidnaped before, but he never knew anyone who had been. The rest of the day passed in a blur until his mother was tucking him into bed. She gave him an extra kiss that night, but he couldn't sleep. Sarah was only five years old and had just started kindergarten, who would want to kidnap her? He tossed and turned for a while, but once that failed he got up and turned on the light.

His book shelf was full to overflowing. Brendan loved to read, but now he was looking for a book his friend had stolen from his older brother and lended to Brendan to stash. It was about demons, ghosts, and spirits.

He flipped through it looking for the page about deals and summoning. He knew there was a picture about a summoning circle and instructions on how to make a demon do what you want. When he first read that page he'd hidden the book in the bottom of his hamper for a week, it'd been too scary. But now it was the only way he could save his sister.

Determined, more determined than any ten year old has any right to be, he rolled up his race car rug and grabbed the caulk off his easel. On the hardwood floor he drew the pentagram and all the strange symbols he didn't understand.

Quiet as a mouse he snuck into his mother's bathroom and stole the candles she kept near the bathtub. Back in his room he placed the candles on each point of the star and sat cross legged on the floor, the book in his lap.

Carefully, he read aloud the latin words hopping he wasn't mispronouncing them. The candle lights dimmed, and if he wasn't already color blind, he would have noticed that the world had turned to black and white. A red pentagram with two bloodshot eyes appeared in front of him.

"WHO DARES SUMMON ME?! The demon roared.

"I did," Brendan said calmly. "I need you to give me the power to rescue my sister!"

"Eh? Noble are ya? But you're nothing more than a baby meat sack. You really think you can make a deal with me?"

"Yes. I summoned you, that means you have to do what I tell you."

"And who told you that?"

"This book." The demon laughed an ear grating noise.

"A book!" he laughed. "A stupid kids book told you how to summon me?! Bwahahaha, that is too funny. Fine Orange Head, I'll give you power."

"Really!"

"Hold up," the demon said holding up a hand. "I want something in return."

"What?" Brendan asked cautiously.

"It's nothing big, I just want you to promise me you'll do me a favor. I don't know what the favor is yet, or when I'll ask it of you, but you gotta promise anyway."

Brendan couldn't think of anything wrong with promising that. He did favors for his mom all the time, like getting her a spoon or walking the dog.

"Sure, I promise," Brendan held out his hand and the demon took it. In a flash of fire and an evil laugh the demon vanished and Brendan burst into flames.

Brendan sat in the mud looking up at the horrified face of his girlfriend and Bill. Mabel turned and ran inside crying as Bill glared at him.

"It's not like that!" Brendan called after her, but she was already inside. He looked desperately up at Bill. "You have to believe me, I didn't know this was gonna happen!"

"You should have known that nothing good happens when you make a deal with a demon," Bill growled and turned his back on the ginger to go comfort Mabel.

"It was the only way to save my sister!" Brendan called after Bill. Bill turned.

"What?" he asked, his voice soft.

"I was ten, and I had to save her. He only asked for a favor some time latter, I didn't know then that the favor would be ruining your lives. It wasn't worth it anyway, by the time I found her it was too late." He stared at the ground as a tear dripped from his eye.

Bill was torn. Did he go comfort Mabel or Brendan. He didn't have long to ponder before the shack burst into flames.

"God damn it Dipper!" Bill growled as he rushed into the burning building.


	30. P2: Fck

**Not the end, I lied I guess, opps...**

Mabel, Stan, and Ford had enough sense to get out of the shack on their own. As Bill rushed past them into the blue hell fire, he heard a primal rawr from the basement. Bipper was free to rain destruction down on the world, unless Bill could stop him

As his white fire enveloped him, Bill pried away the vending machine and let it fall to the floor with the crash of glass. A hot blast of fire from the elevator shaft hit him in the face. The elevator itself appeared to have been ripped out and Bipper stood at the bottom glaring up at Bill.

Without a moment's hesitation, Bill jumped down the shaft and landed both feet on Bipper, the sound of cracking bones was lost in the roar of fire. Bipper growled like a feral dog at the once-demon standing on his chest. He latched onto Bill's leg with both hands and his teeth and rolled over slamming Bill into the ground with a bang. Bill's head swam as he kicked Bipper in the head to get him to stop biting his leg. Bipper let go, now with a sizable cut on his head. With hardly a beat Bill popped back up again and shot of jet of white hot fire at Bipper who blocked with both arms held upright in front of his face.

A cruel evil laugh filled the cavern drowning out the sound of the flames. Bill clenched his teeth against the noise.

"Cypher! You let Pine Tree go now!" Bill roared, distracted for a moment; a moment which Bipper used to drag himself to his feet. He launched a volley of fireballs at Bill who dodged them easily. Blood dripped into Bipper's eye and he furiously wiped it away. Bipper rushed Bill who side stepped. He kicked Bipper in the back and sent him flying into some burning books with a dull thud. His blue flames flared up as he extracted himself from the ash and charged Bill again, but before he got half way he launched two streams of fire at Bill.

Bill ducked but one jet hit him in the shoulder. He'd endured worse pain before but it still hurt like hell. He didn't recover fast enough though. Bipper tackled him to the ground. Kneeling on Bill's chest, Bipper punched Bill over and over. Bill tried to push him off but he wasn't having any luck, possessed as he was Dipper was stronger.

Then, a spout of amber fire came out of nowhere and knocked Bipper through the wall into the portal room. Brendan stood in the rubble of the elevator shaft, scuffed up and muddy but otherwise okay.

"We have to get out of here now!" Brendan yelled over the roar of the fire. "This whole place is going to collapse!" Bill looked up and realized the hellfire was melting the metal supports that held the stone ceiling up.

Brendan pulled Bill to his feet before Bipper found his bearings and charged them again.

Mabel watched as her beloved home burned down. Waddles squirmed in her arms, and Shrub clung terrified to her shoulder. Stan placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Ford was a few feet away yelling into his cellphone.

"Dipper, Bill, Brendan, please be okay," she whispered quietly. And that is when the Mystery Shack went super nova.

Well, it didn't really go supernova, but it might as well have. The blast was blindingly bright and broiling hot. Stan grabbed his grandniece and pulled her behind a tree. Ford hit the dirt behind a car. Most of the blast was directed straight up, lighting up the night and giving a poor bat quite a shock. When the blast died down, all that was left of the their once beloved home was a smoking crater in the ground and no boys.

"It's dark, too dark. There isn't anything, nothing at all. No noise, not light, nothing to touch, nothing to feel. Wait, what's that?"

"Bill!"

"Who is Bill? Wait, am I Bill?"

"Bill, wake up!"

Bill woke to Brendan violently shaking him. At first, all the saw was white, like his eyes had been burned out. Then, slowly, Brendan's face came into focus. He looked tired, worn out, and covered in soot. His amber eyes were much duller than when they'd first met.

Bill sat up, his head roared in complaint but he ignored it. He surveyed his surroundings. All around him was black rock and flowing lava. He realized then that he was burning up, not from a fever, but from the sheer heat of the place. He recognized it at once.

"I don't know where we are," Brendan said apologetically.

"I do, and I'd rather be literally anywhere else. We are in the realm of demons, the homeland of Ben Cipher."

An easily recognized laughed overwhelmed the distant roar of lava and the less distant sounds of tortured scream and feral growls. A familiar pentagonal red figured emerged above them, with a hungry beast once known as Dipper beside him.

"Hello friends!" that ear grating voice spoke. "As you can see, I finally have my son back!" he gestured to Bipper. "He's gonna need some training, and he'll probably need to absorb more than a few brains to get back his former intelligence, but that will give me something to work on for the next few millennia. If you two are still alive then, well give me a holler and I'll show you my finished project! Ta ta!" With that, Ben vanished leaving behind the sweet scent of rotting fish.

"FUCK!" Bill yelled as he threw himself back onto the gravel hill side. He stared up at the unchanging red sky. They were endless dimensions away from Gravity Falls, Pine Tree was as good as gone, and even with their powers, they'd be squashed by the first demon or monster who wandered by them, and that was if they didn't die of thirst first.

"I'm guessing that we are as good as dead then?" Brendan asked quietly.

"Yup."

 **so, you see, I seem to have written myself into a corner. I've no idea how they are going to get out of this one. Help? Please? Ideas?**


	31. P2: The What is a What?

**Once again, sorry for the long time uploading. I really don't have an excuse, but here you go, second to last chapter!**

For Mabel, the next few hours where a fog. At some point, she lost track of Shrub but didn't really care. She never let go of Waddles though. Red roaring fire engines came to extinguish the remaining hell fire that threatened the forest. An ambulance came too and put some ointment on her scraps. Ford and Stan stood together urgently talking to one authority and then the next. Her twin was gone, her boyfriend was gone, her best friend was gone. There was nothing left for her here.

Leaning on eachother for support, Brendan and Bill walked. They had no destination in mind, they just knew they would definitely die if they stayed where they had woken up. They would definitely die if they walked away too, if the exhaustion and thirst didn't kill them, some wandering monster would.

While they walked, they talked; here is a snippet of their conversation.

"I'm so sorry I never told you about my connection to Ben Crypto," Brendan said.

"It's okay," Bill panted. "I should have trusted you."

"No, you were right to mistrust me. I was supposed to kill Dipper and Mabel."

"But you didn't."

"I just didn't get the chance."

"Whatever, you didn't, so I can't hold it against you. Now drop it, don't feel guilty about this, it won't help us get out."

They walked in silence for a while before Brendan spoke up again.

"I really do care for Mabel, you know that right?"

"I honestly don't know what I know anymore. My head has been scrambled more times than I care for." Brendan continued as if he hadn't heard Bill.

"She is funny and sweet and when she tries to put on makeup but doesn't get it quite right she's still beautiful."

"She is pretty great."

"Meow!"

The two stopped dead in their tracks. Sitting in front of them, as though she had been waiting for them, was Shrub.

"Shrub?" Brendan asked unbelieving. As Brendan made a move to scoop up the cat, Bill held an arm out to stop him.

"It can't be Shrub, probably some demon toying with us."

"I am too Shrub," the little kitten spoke. "I can prove it if you want. You found me in a bush on a cold day, you gave me a warm place to sleep, you even snuck in on Dipper that one night."

"How…" Bill grasped at the air.

"I am no ordinary cat," at that, the little kitten grew and changed till she was twice the size of a large horse. There was also a faint striping to her coat that was not noticeable when she was so small.

"I am a creature older than even Ben Crypto. I have gone by many names and taken many forms. But you may continue to call me Shrub."

The two boys stood dumbfounded, mouths gaping.

"How... ?" Bill swallowed and tried again. "Why did you come to me?"

"I didn't really come to you, I was looking for Ben. He has been rather elusive these past few centuries. But about ten human years ago he slipped off my radar entirely. I finally picked up his sent in this one," she pointed a sword like claw at Brendan. "But you Bill found me first. When you neared me I realized that you were one of Ben's creations, but after a moment, I saw you were only a remnant of one no longer in his control. You're boyfriend however, is another story."

"Pine Tree! He's in trouble. We have to save him!" Bill became frantic.

"Hush, we will. Now, climb aboard and strap yourselves in." Shrub crouched as a strange harness appeared on her. There were clear saddle like seats and ties for the boy's legs. Once they were good and secure, the huge cat leap into the air.

"Woah!" Bill shouted as she soared up, and up.

"You are going to hit the ceiling!" Brendan called from in front of Bill. Looking over his shoulder, Bill saw that indeed, they were going to hit the black stone ceiling of this realm. But at the last moment, and purple portal opened. Bill was sure he lost his stomach back by the green fog ball, but by the time the ride through dimensions was over, he was ready to pass out. Then, all at once, it stopped.

They stood on a hilltop, overlooking Gravity Falls, but not Gravity Falls. All the color had been drained from it. It was merely a replica.

"Why are we back?" Brendan asked. Bill then remembered that he was completely color blind and wouldn't notice the difference.

"This is merely a copy of your beloved home town," Shrub explained. "This is Ben's personal dimension. It changes to his liking, but I have never seen it so stable before. It can not mean good things."

"HELLO KITTY, DID YOU MISS ME!" a voice like Ben's but deeper rang out from nowhere. Then, the blood red form of Ben, bigger than the two had ever seen him before, roze from the town. At his side was Bipper, foaming at the mouth and cloaked in blood read flames.

"YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE MY TOY AWAY FROM ME!" In a hushed voice, Shrub directed them to dismount. Once their feet where safely on the ground, her harness melted away.

"I am going to take on Ben myself, you two will have to contain the boy until I have dispatched the demon," Shrud directed, cool and collect.

"Okay," the boys agreed, each igniting their flames in preparation for the battle.

"Ready… GO!"

 **He he, cliffhangers. You want to see the big battle? TOO bad, gotta wait till next time. :P**


	32. A fresh start

Hello friends. I am so sorry that this story was never finished, it eats at me from time to time. I wrote this while my parents were going through a divorce and while I was at the tail end of my depression. It helped me so much as did all of you. I still love the characters I created, but looking back, the story is a mess and a bit out of control. That is why and I am thrill to announce I will be rewriting it! The first chapter is already up. What I am looking to do in this rewrite is organize the plot, post longer chapters, and take my time with the characters, not rushing out short poorly written chapters. I hope you all check it out, the rewrite is call The Changed Demon, to avoid confusion. you can find the first chapter of The Changed Demon here. s/12617413/1/The-Changed-Demon


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